ABT
The outlook just got a little less rosy
Abbott Laboratories is back with a forecast haircut. The company said it now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $5.38 to $5.58 a share, down from $5.55 to $5.80, after adjusting for the impact of its $21 billion 2025 acquisition of Exact Sciences.
The deal is doing what deals do: making the numbers weird
This is the classic corporate merger plot twist. The acquisition was supposed to give Abbott’s diagnostics business a much-needed boost, especially in cancer screening. Instead, in the short term, it’s adding enough noise to the profit picture that management felt compelled to lower the score on the scoreboard.
Sales are still hanging in there
To be fair, Abbott didn’t exactly throw in the towel. It still projects full-year 2026 comparable sales growth of 6.5% to 7.5%, which tells you the underlying business isn’t falling apart — at least not yet.
For investors, that’s the tension here:
- Revenue growth remains intact
- Earnings are getting squeezed
- The Exact Sciences deal needs time to prove it was worth the price tag
Big picture: Abbott’s trying to buy its way into a stronger diagnostics future, but for now, the bill is showing up before the benefits do.