The first quarter is a wrap and Abbott is off to a very good start with strong growth across all four of the company's major businesses.
This growth translated to worldwide sales for the quarter of $10.5 billion, up 32.9% on an organic basis (35.3% reported), excluding the impact of foreign exchange. Abbott's ongoing earnings per share was $1.32, reflecting 103.1% growth compared to the prior year.1
While Diagnostics led Abbott's growth, driven by the company's robust portfolio of COVID-19 tests, that’s only part of the story. This quarter also saw strong growth in Adult Nutrition, Medical Devices — led by Diabetes Care and Structural Heart — as well as increasing demand for other instruments and routine tests in Abbott's Core Lab business.
Given this strong quarter, Abbott is on track with its expectations for the year and well-positioned to deliver on its 2021 guidance, reflecting another year of impressive performance.
These are some of the key first-quarter highlights:
For full financials and reconciliation of non-GAAP measures, you can read Abbott's press release. For further information, take a look at some additional materials below:
Abbott President and CEO Robert Ford shares his thoughts on the continued importance of rapid COVID-19 tests.
Download a summary of Abbott’s earnings highlights here.
* The i-STAT Alinity TBI plasma test simultaneously measures biomarkers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) in blood plasma, two complementary biomarkers that, in elevated concentrations, are tightly correlated to brain injury. It provides test results with 95.8% sensitivity and greater than 99% negative predictive value. The TBI blood test was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) – which has been dedicated to developing a solution for the objective detection and evaluation of TBI for more than a decade. The DoD, through U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command's (USAMRDC) U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA), played a critical role in developing the test run on Abbott's i-STAT Alinity platform. The Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) research team were the first to demonstrate how this TBI blood test can be used for the benefit of TBI patients in clinical care.
** TriClip G4 is an investigational device only in the U.S.
References
1 First-quarter 2021 diluted EPS from continuing operations on a GAAP basis reflects 233.3 percent growth.
2 Data on file. Abbott Diabetes Care.
3 Excluding COVID-19 testing-related sales, Core Laboratory Diagnostics sales increased 14.1 percent and Molecular Diagnostics sales increased 33.9 percent on a reported basis in the first quarter.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Abbott cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Abbott's operations are discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020, and are incorporated herein by reference. Abbott undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events or developments, except as required by law.
This story was originally published on April 20, 2021 and updated on June 13, 2022.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
ALINITY™ M RESP-4-PLEX
FREESTYLE LIBRE 2 INDICATIONS AND IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
BINAXNOW EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION
The BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 tests have not been FDA cleared or approved. They have been authorized by the FDA under an emergency use authorization. They have been authorized only for the detection of proteins from SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens, and are only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under Section 564(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the declaration is terminated or authorization is revoked sooner. For serial testing, the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Tests should be performed twice over 3 days, at least 24 hours (and no more than 48 hours) apart. For symptomatic use, a single test can be used.
ALINITY™ M RESP-4-PLEX
For use under an Emergency Use Authorization only.
FDA EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION
This product has not been FDA cleared or approved, but has been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an EUA for use by authorized laboratories;
FREESTYLE LIBRE 2 INDICATIONS AND IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
The FreeStyle Libre 2 Flash Glucose Monitoring System is a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device with real time alarms capability indicated for the management of diabetes in persons age 4 and older.*
WARNINGS/LIMITATIONS*:
The System must not be used with automated insulin dosing (AID) systems, including closed loop and insulin suspend systems. Remove the sensor before MRI, CT scan, X-ray, or diathermy treatment. Do not take high doses of vitamin C (more than 500 mg per day), as this may falsely raise your Sensor readings. Failure to use the System according to the instructions for use may result in missing a severe low blood glucose or high blood glucose event and/or making a treatment decision that may result in injury. If glucose alarms and readings from the System do not match symptoms or expectations, use a fingerstick blood glucose value to make diabetes treatment decisions. Seek medical attention when appropriate and contact Abbott Toll Free (855-632-8658) or visit * www.freestylelibre.us for detailed indications for use and safety information.
*Please refer to www.freestylelibre.us for the indications and important safety information.
Please be aware that the website you have requested is intended for the residents of a particular country or region, as noted on that site. As a result, the site may contain information on pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other products or uses of those products that are not approved in other countries or regions.
The website you have requested also may not be optimized for your specific screen size.
FOLLOW ABBOTT