Abbott Lifts 2026 Profit Forecast on Strong Diagnostics and Medical Device Sales

Abbott Laboratories raised its annual profit forecast and reported second-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations, citing strong demand for its medical devices and a significant boost from its recently expanded cancer diagnostics business. The positive results and outlook sent the company's shares up nearly 4% in premarket trading.

Quarterly Performance and Outlook

The medical technology company announced an updated full-year adjusted profit forecast in the range of $5.45 to $5.60 per share, an increase from its previous guidance of $5.38 to $5.58 per share. For the third quarter, Abbott projects an adjusted profit between $1.38 and $1.46 per share, with the midpoint slightly above the analyst consensus of $1.42.

For the second quarter, Abbott reported:

• Total Revenue: $12.59 billion, slightly ahead of the LSEG estimate of $12.5 billion.
• Adjusted Profit: $1.31 per share, beating the analyst consensus of $1.28.

Segment Strength Drives Growth

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Growth was propelled by strong performance across key business units. The Diagnostics segment was a standout, with sales growing 42% to $3.09 billion, exceeding estimates of $3.02 billion. This growth was largely driven by the recent acquisition of Exact Sciences' Cologuard colorectal cancer test and Oncotype DX breast cancer assay, which are helping to offset declining revenue from COVID-19 tests.

Abbott's Medical Devices segment also showed resilience, with sales rising 9% to $5.85 billion, beating estimates of $5.82 billion. Analysts note that Abbott's focus on electrophysiology and structural heart products helps insulate it from broader pressures on elective procedures. The Diabetes Care segment, featuring its FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) products, saw sales increase 10.5% to $2.19 billion.

Market Context

Abbott's strong results come as some medtech firms face headwinds from weaker surgical volumes and a rising number of uninsured patients. J.P. Morgan analyst Robbie Marcus noted that the global CGM market appears to be settling into an 8% to 12% growth range, and he expects Abbott to maintain a growth rate of 8% to 10% within that market going forward.