By Senad Karaahmetovic
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) shares are trading higher in pre-market Wednesday after the medical device company posted better-than-expected Q1 results.
Abbott said it earned $1.03 per share on sales of $9.75 billion, beating the consensus for earnings of $0.99 per share on revenue of $9.66B. Overall, sales fell 18% year-over-year as diagnostics revenue plunged 49% to $2.69B.
"Our first-quarter results reflect a very strong start to the year," said Robert B. Ford, chairman and chief executive officer, Abbott. "Growth in our underlying base businesses accelerated, including particularly strong results in Medical Devices, Established Pharmaceuticals and Nutrition."
For FY23, the company projects EPS at $4.40 (up or down 10 cents). Abbott also sees “at least high single-digit FY organic sales growth.”