Abbott Laboratories’ Stock Soars 14% in Five Days Amid Strong Financial Growth
1min read Abbott Laboratories has seen its stock rise consistently, experiencing a 3.52% increase on January 27, marking a five-day uptrend and a notable 14.06% gain over the past week. This period of growth culminated in reaching its highest stock price since February 2022.
Recently, Abbott released its 2024 annual report, revealing an operating revenue of $419.50 billion, which is a 4.59% increase year-over-year. The company's net profit reached $134.02 billion, translating to a basic earnings per share of $7.73. Incorporated in Illinois in 1900, Abbott is a major player in the healthcare sector, focusing on research, development, manufacturing, and selling of healthcare products across four distinct segments: established pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, nutritional products, and medical devices.
In its latest financial disclosures, Abbott reported global sales of $110 billion for Q4 of 2024, reflecting an 8.8% organic growth. Excluding COVID-19 test sales, this growth would have been 10.1%. The medical device segment significantly contributed over $50 billion in global sales for the fourth quarter, marking a 14.0% organic growth year-over-year. Meanwhile, diagnostics saw a 1.0% increase in sales, which would rise to 6.1% if excluding COVID-19 test sales.
On an annual scale, Abbott's global sales reached $420 billion in 2024, showing a 7.1% organic increase. This figure climbs to 9.6% when the effect of COVID-19 test sales is removed. The company’s medical devices division alone saw sales surpass $190 billion, an increase of over $20 billion from the previous year, achieving a 13.4% organic growth. Additionally, the diagnostics division reported sales surpassing $93 billion, showing a 5.2% organic growth excluding COVID-19 product sales.
Abbott projects an ambitious organic sales growth for 2025, targeting between 7.5% and 8.5%. The medical devices sector, particularly in diabetes care and electrophysiology, is expected to play a crucial role in this trajectory. The FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system remains a market leader in this category. Abbott is also exploring new areas such as pulse field ablation (PFA) for heart treatments, which is projected to significantly boost market revenue.
The company's chief executive, Robert Ford, has expressed optimism about the company's financial stability going into 2025, despite expected debt repayments. This confidence is bolstered by robust performances in the medical devices and diagnostics sectors, which continue to offer strategic growth opportunities.
