Abbott Laboratories (ABT, Financial) released its third-quarter results Wednesday before the New York Stock Exchange opened.
The U.S.-based global health care company reported revenue of $6.83 billion (up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis). Abbott Labs beat expectations by $110 million.
The adjusted diluted EPS reported by the company for the quarter is 66 cents (up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis). Abbott Labs beat expectations by 1 cent.
The increase in sales was driven by the medical devices segment with $2.597 billion (up 98.2% on a year-over-year basis), established pharmaceuticals with $1.171 billion (up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis) and diagnostics with $1.279 billion (up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis). The nutrition segment, which accounted for $1.768 billion in third-quarter sales, grew 0.8% from the comparable of fiscal 2016.
Miles D. White, Abbott Labs’ chairman and CEO, commented on the third-quarter results: "We're very pleased with our performance and the steady cadence of innovative new product launches that are contributing to growth."
White added, "We're well positioned to achieve the upper end of our initial full-year EPS guidance range."
For full-year 2017, the company expects to report EPS of between 97 cents and 99 cents and non-GAAP EPS of between $2.48 and $2.50.
Abbott declared its 375th quarterly dividend of 26.5 cents per share in September. The current dividend yield is 1.94%.
The portion of earnings Abbott Labs distributes to its shareholders in the form of dividends has been increased 45 years in a row.
Abbott is part of the Standard & Poor's 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index.
Abbott trades around $55.06 per share on the New York Stock Exchange, about 37 cents below its 52-week high of $55.43 per share, and has outperformed the S&P 500 by 29.03% year to date. The 52-week low is $37.38 per share.
Disclosure: I have no position in Abbott Laboratories.
