Abbott
(NYSE:ABT) beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street today — with sales of molecular diagnostics including COVID-19 tests more than tripling.
The Abbott Park, Ill.-based healthcare giant reported profits of $537 million or 57¢ per share, on sales of $7.33 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2020, for a bottom-line plunge of –47% on sales that dropped -8.2.% compared with Q2 2019.
After suspending its year-end forecast in April due to uncertainty related to the pandemic, Abbott projected EPS of $3.25 for the full year 2020, which compares with analysts’ projection of $2.87 per share.
Medical device sales were down more than -21% worldwide to $2.423 billion for the quarter, with diabetes care sales the only category in the black, with a 27.2% increase. Notably, the company received FDA clearance in mid-June for its FreeStyle Libre 2 continuous glucose monitoring system for adults and children ages four and older with diabetes.
Overall diagnostics sales were up 4.7% to $1.99 billion, boosted by company’s COVID-19 testing portfolio. Abbott has received emergency use authorizations from the FDA for three molecular diagnostics tests and two EUAs for serology (antibody) tests.
Abbott CEO Robert Ford told analysts today that even after a vaccine becomes available, he expects strong demand for COVID-19 diagnostic tests to continue to monitor for immune responses and rates of vaccine protection against the virus.
Looking across the spectrum, it’s clear that the need for testing is large and it isn’t going away,” Ford said in a call transcribed by Seeking Alpha. “I’m incredibly proud of the work that our scientists as well as our manufacturing, supply chain and business teams are doing to lead in this area as we fight this pandemic.”
COVID-19 hurt sales of cardiovascular and neuromodulation devices, but the company reported that procedure volume trends improved significantly over the course of the second quarter. The company’s TriClip transcatheter tricuspid valve repair system won CE Mark approval in Europe in April.
“Our diversified business model has proven to be a true strength during this time,” Ford added in a news release. “We’re a leader in the global COVID-19 testing efforts, we’ve continued to advance our pipeline and, importantly, we saw significant improvements in growth trends throughout the quarter in the business areas that were initially most impacted by the pandemic.”
Abbott is projecting full-year 2020 diluted EPS of at least $2.00.
Shares in ABT were down slightly to $96.16 apiece mid-morning today. The company is among the top performers in today’s Medtech 100 Index.
This article has been updated with comments from Abbott CEO Robert Ford.