Summary
Abbott Laboratories reported strong top-line growth for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, with net sales increasing by 15.2% to $22.8 billion, driven by a robust performance across all key business segments, particularly Diagnostics and Cardiovascular & Neuromodulation. This growth was significantly bolstered by the acquisition of Alere Inc. in late 2017, which has established Abbott as a leader in point-of-care testing. Profitability showed significant improvement as well, with Net Earnings rising to $1.71 billion for the nine-month period, a substantial increase from $1.31 billion in the prior year. This was aided by the absence of a large one-time gain on business disposition in the prior year and improved gross profit margins, partly due to the integration of acquisitions and effective cost management. The company also continued its commitment to returning value to shareholders through increased dividends.
Financial Highlights
52 data points| Revenue | $7.66B |
| Cost of Revenue | $3.17B |
| Gross Profit | $3.95B |
| R&D Expenses | $574.00M |
| SG&A Expenses | $2.38B |
| Operating Expenses | $6.66B |
| Operating Income | $995.00M |
| Interest Expense | $203.00M |
| Net Income | $563.00M |
| EPS (Basic) | $0.32 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $0.32 |
| Shares Outstanding (Basic) | 1.76B |
| Shares Outstanding (Diluted) | 1.77B |
Key Highlights
- 1Net sales increased by 15.2% to $22.8 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, driven by broad-based segment growth and the Alere acquisition.
- 2The Diagnostic Products segment saw a significant 49.2% increase in net sales (excluding foreign exchange), largely due to the Alere acquisition and strong performance in Core Laboratory diagnostics.
- 3Net Earnings grew to $1.71 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, up from $1.31 billion in the prior year.
- 4Gross profit margin improved to 50.9% for the nine months of 2018, compared to 46.8% in the same period of 2017, benefiting from acquisition integration and margin improvements in key businesses.
- 5The company made significant strides in debt management, repaying substantial amounts of long-term debt and issuing new euro debt, while maintaining an investment-grade credit rating.
- 6Quarterly cash dividends per common share increased by approximately 6% to $0.28 in the first three quarters of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.