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Abbott Laboratories’ (ABT - Free Report) growth in the fourth quarter of 2024 can be attributed to strong improvement in global Core Laboratory Diagnostics sales, led by continued strong demand for its portfolio of respiratory disease tests. Within Diabetes Care, the company is driving robust growth through its flagship, sensor-based CGM system — FreeStyle Libre.
However, a dull macroeconomic scenario and currency fluctuations may restrict Abbott’s growth potential.
In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s shares have risen 14.1% compared with the industry’s 16.5% growth and the S&P 500 composite’s 24.8% increase.
The leading at-home healthcare company has a market capitalization of $216.86 billion. Abbott beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 1.64%.
ABT’s Tailwinds
Strong Prospects Within Core Diagnostics: Abbott continues to expand its Diagnostics business foothold. Over the past few quarters, the company is witnessing increased global demand for routine diagnostic. It is particularly gaining from strong demand for its portfolio of respiratory disease tests. Globally, Abbott holds a prominent position in point-of-care testing, with a portfolio focused on four key areas such as Infectious Disease, Cardiometabolic & Informatics, Toxicology and Consumer Diagnostics.
In September, the company announced a new partnership with the Big Ten conference to help boost the U.S. blood supply through a blood donation competition.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Core Laboratory Diagnostics recorded growth of 4%, driven by continued strong demand for Abbott’s immunoassay, clinical chemistry, hematology and blood screening testing panels. Excluding the impact of challenging market dynamics in China, the combined growth in all other markets was double digits in the quarter.
Libre Drives Diabetes Care: Abbott’s Diabetes Care business continued to benefit from the growing sales of its flagship, sensor-based continuous glucose monitoring system, FreeStyle Libre. In a relatively short span, FreeStyle Libre has achieved global leadership among continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for both Type 1 and Type 2 users.
Of late, ABT is fast gaining momentum, leveraging consistent upgrades of FreeStyle Libre. In the fourth quarter, sales of CGM exceeded $1.8 billion and grew 23% in Diabetes Care. For full-year 2024, sales of CGM were approximately $6.5 billion and grew 22% from 2023. This included growth of 27% in the United States.
ABT’s Headwinds
Choppy Macro Environment to Weigh on Margins: The challenging macroeconomic scenario in the form of the ongoing complex geo-political situation globally, specifically where Abbott operates, is driving higher-than-anticipated increase in expenses in terms of raw materials and freight. This could also result in broader economic impacts and security concerns, affecting the company’s business in the upcoming months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In the fourth quarter, Abbott incurred an 8.5% increase in the cost of products sold. The gross margin contracted 55 basis points to 55%. Selling, general and administration expenses were up 6.7% year over year, resulting in a 43-basis point contraction in the adjusted operating margin.
Foreign Exchange Translation Impacts Sales: Foreign exchange is a major headwind for Abbott due to a considerable percentage of its revenues coming from outside the United States. The strengthening of the euro and some other developed market currencies has constantly been hampering the company’s performance in the international markets. In the fourth quarter of 2024, foreign exchange had an unfavorable year-over-year impact of 1.4% on sales.
Abbott’s Estimates Trend
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share has remained unchanged at $5.14 in the past 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 revenues is pegged at $44.56 billion, indicating a 6.2% rise from the year-ago reported number.
Veracyte's estimated 2025 earnings growth rate is 65.8% compared with the industry’s 21.9%. Its shares have risen 49.2% in the past year compared with the industry’s 5.5% growth. VCYT’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 520.58%.
Omnicell, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an earnings yield of 3.7% compared with the industry’s 9.5%. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 121.74%. OMCL’s shares have risen 15.2% against the industry’s 16.8% decline in the past year.
ResMed, carrying a Zacks Rank 2 at present, has an estimated earnings growth rate of 8.9% for fiscal 2025. Its shares have surged 33.4% compared with the industry’s 11.1% growth in the past year. RMD’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.41%.
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Reasons to Retain ABT Stock in Your Portfolio Now
Abbott Laboratories’ (ABT - Free Report) growth in the fourth quarter of 2024 can be attributed to strong improvement in global Core Laboratory Diagnostics sales, led by continued strong demand for its portfolio of respiratory disease tests. Within Diabetes Care, the company is driving robust growth through its flagship, sensor-based CGM system — FreeStyle Libre.
However, a dull macroeconomic scenario and currency fluctuations may restrict Abbott’s growth potential.
In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s shares have risen 14.1% compared with the industry’s 16.5% growth and the S&P 500 composite’s 24.8% increase.
The leading at-home healthcare company has a market capitalization of $216.86 billion. Abbott beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 1.64%.
ABT’s Tailwinds
Strong Prospects Within Core Diagnostics: Abbott continues to expand its Diagnostics business foothold. Over the past few quarters, the company is witnessing increased global demand for routine diagnostic. It is particularly gaining from strong demand for its portfolio of respiratory disease tests. Globally, Abbott holds a prominent position in point-of-care testing, with a portfolio focused on four key areas such as Infectious Disease, Cardiometabolic & Informatics, Toxicology and Consumer Diagnostics.
In September, the company announced a new partnership with the Big Ten conference to help boost the U.S. blood supply through a blood donation competition.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Core Laboratory Diagnostics recorded growth of 4%, driven by continued strong demand for Abbott’s immunoassay, clinical chemistry, hematology and blood screening testing panels. Excluding the impact of challenging market dynamics in China, the combined growth in all other markets was double digits in the quarter.
Libre Drives Diabetes Care: Abbott’s Diabetes Care business continued to benefit from the growing sales of its flagship, sensor-based continuous glucose monitoring system, FreeStyle Libre. In a relatively short span, FreeStyle Libre has achieved global leadership among continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for both Type 1 and Type 2 users.
Of late, ABT is fast gaining momentum, leveraging consistent upgrades of FreeStyle Libre. In the fourth quarter, sales of CGM exceeded $1.8 billion and grew 23% in Diabetes Care. For full-year 2024, sales of CGM were approximately $6.5 billion and grew 22% from 2023. This included growth of 27% in the United States.
ABT’s Headwinds
Choppy Macro Environment to Weigh on Margins: The challenging macroeconomic scenario in the form of the ongoing complex geo-political situation globally, specifically where Abbott operates, is driving higher-than-anticipated increase in expenses in terms of raw materials and freight. This could also result in broader economic impacts and security concerns, affecting the company’s business in the upcoming months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In the fourth quarter, Abbott incurred an 8.5% increase in the cost of products sold. The gross margin contracted 55 basis points to 55%. Selling, general and administration expenses were up 6.7% year over year, resulting in a 43-basis point contraction in the adjusted operating margin.
Foreign Exchange Translation Impacts Sales: Foreign exchange is a major headwind for Abbott due to a considerable percentage of its revenues coming from outside the United States. The strengthening of the euro and some other developed market currencies has constantly been hampering the company’s performance in the international markets. In the fourth quarter of 2024, foreign exchange had an unfavorable year-over-year impact of 1.4% on sales.
Abbott’s Estimates Trend
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share has remained unchanged at $5.14 in the past 30 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 revenues is pegged at $44.56 billion, indicating a 6.2% rise from the year-ago reported number.
Key Picks
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Veracyte (VCYT - Free Report) , Omnicell (OMCL - Free Report) and ResMed (RMD - Free Report) .
Veracyte's estimated 2025 earnings growth rate is 65.8% compared with the industry’s 21.9%. Its shares have risen 49.2% in the past year compared with the industry’s 5.5% growth. VCYT’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 520.58%.
VCYT carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Omnicell, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an earnings yield of 3.7% compared with the industry’s 9.5%. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 121.74%. OMCL’s shares have risen 15.2% against the industry’s 16.8% decline in the past year.
ResMed, carrying a Zacks Rank 2 at present, has an estimated earnings growth rate of 8.9% for fiscal 2025. Its shares have surged 33.4% compared with the industry’s 11.1% growth in the past year. RMD’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.41%.