Yahoo Finance Abbott Banks on New Approvals and Buyouts, Competition Rife
On Sep 19, we issued an updated research report on Abbott Laboratories ABT. Notably, branded generics and international diabetes businesses of Abbott should drive growth in the coming quarters. Nevertheless, a competitive environment persists to raise concerns for Abbott. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Over the past year, shares of Abbott have outperformed its industry. The stock has surged 31.9% compared with the industry's 21.5% rally.
Notably, in second-quarter 2018, Abbott once again steered past the Zacks Consensus Estimate for both earnings as well as revenues. We are also optimistic about the strong and consistent performance delivered by the company’s EPD and Medical Devices segments. Also, solid contributions from Diagnostics and Nutrition businesses encourage us.
Abbott Laboratories Price
Abbott Laboratories Price | Abbott Laboratories Quote
We believe, the company’s receipt of FDA approval for XIENCE Sierra coronary stent system as well as a reimbursement nod in Japan for the same device will help it revive the dull Vascular business. Within Structural Heart, the strong worldwide uptake of MitraClip therapy further improves following the recent approval of its next-generation version by the regulatory body.
We are also impressed by Abbott’s progress with Alere integration. Synergies from this consolidation in the form of revenues drawn from Rapid Diagnostics have been driving the company’s growth. Meanwhile, the company’s emerging market performance has been extremely promising owing to several strategic developments.
On the flip side, Abbott’s sluggish pediatric business in China continues to mar growth. Management is concerned about the prevalent economic problems in Venezuela that are expected to remain unresolved for some time. Also, foreign exchange is a major headwind for Abbott as a considerable portion of its revenues comes from outside the United States.
Key Stocks
A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are athenahealth ATHN, Intuitive Surgical ISRG and Veeva Systems VEEV.
athenahealth has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 17.6%. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Intuitive Surgical’s expected long-term earnings growth rate is pegged at 14.7%. The stock flaunts a Zacks Rank of #1.
Veeva Systems’ long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 19.3%. The stock is a Zacks #1 Ranked player.
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