NEW YORK, July 16, 2026, 09:09 EDT
- Adjusted EPS for Q2 came in at $1.31 on revenue of $12.59 billion. Analysts had called for $1.28 and $12.50 billion.
- Abbott lifted its full-year adjusted EPS outlook to $5.45 to $5.60. But internal figures show the company needs second-half comparable sales growth of around 8.6%-10.5% to hit the annual target, which it left unchanged.
Abbott Laboratories NYSE:ABT bumped up its 2026 earnings outlook on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results, thanks mostly to cancer tests and heart devices. Shares jumped almost 4% in early trading. The company left its revenue forecast steady, but now has to deliver second-half growth between about 8.6% and 10.5% to hit its target after putting up 4.3% growth in the first half.
The bigger issue is getting sales up, not just the profit bump. Abbott’s midpoint for adjusted EPS, excluding certain charges, is now $5.525, up 4.5 cents. Quarterly results topped LSEG (LON:LSEG) estimates by 3 cents. Most of that midpoint gain comes from earnings already on the books, so the growth ahead depends more on hitting new sales.
| Measure | First half 2026 | Full-year 2026 target | Implied second half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comparable revenue | $23.955 billion, up 4.3% | Growth of 6.5%-7.5% | $26.62-$27.09 billion, up 8.6%-10.5% |
| Adjusted EPS | $2.46, up 4.7% | $5.45-$5.60 | $2.99-$3.14, up 6.8%-12.1% |
Numbers are based on Abbott’s own disclosures. Abbott doesn’t provide this guidance. Comparable revenue counts Exact Sciences for both periods and strips out currency and structural heart payments.
The sales estimate uses a 2025 comparable base of roughly $47.486 billion, made up of Abbott’s $44.328 billion in reported sales and $3.247 billion from Exact Sciences, minus $89 million from structural-heart agreement payments. That leaves about $24.514 billion for last year’s second half after accounting for the reported first-half base. Abbott hasn’t given a separate second-half sales outlook.
Abbott came in ahead on second-quarter results. Revenue was $12.593 billion and adjusted EPS landed at $1.31, beating estimates. Medical-device sales also topped forecasts.
| Second-quarter metric | Actual | LSEG estimate | Beat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.593 billion | $12.50 billion | 0.7% |
| Adjusted EPS | $1.31 | $1.28 | 2.3% |
| Medical-device sales | $5.853 billion | $5.82 billion | 0.6% |
The percentage changes are based on Abbott’s numbers and LSEG consensus.
Cancer diagnostics stood out as the main driver of scale. The Exact Sciences unit, now part of Abbott, brought in $919 million last quarter. That was about 63% of Abbott’s $1.451 billion year-over-year sales gain. For comparison, the business saw 13.3% growth from $811 million a year earlier, with Abbott seeing mid-teens growth for its Cologuard colorectal cancer screening test.
Medical devices are still Abbott’s main growth driver. The segment posted $5.853 billion in sales, up 8.4% on a comparable basis. Diabetes care brought in $2.188 billion, led by a 9.5% rise in continuous-glucose-monitor revenue. Electrophysiology rose 13.4%. Structural heart climbed 5.7%. Abbott says the mix should hold up as investors watch for weakness in demand for elective procedures.
Outside of devices and oncology, the weakness remains. Comparable nutrition sales dropped 3.6%, though revenue was up $127 million from Q1. Rapid and molecular diagnostics slipped 8% as demand for respiratory-virus tests cooled. These segments still pull down overall growth. For Abbott to hit the lower end of its second-half outlook, it needs these units to stabilize without putting more pressure on devices and oncology.
Chief Executive Robert Ford said, “Our second-quarter results reflect the momentum we are building.” He’s looking for sales and earnings growth to pick up in the second half. Abbott MediaRoom
The outlook could still go either way. Lower procedure volumes or slower traction in nutrition would threaten the sales goal. Net interest expense jumped to $299 million from $50 million. Reported net income dropped 48% to $928 million as Abbott logged $658 million in intangible amortization along with other acquisition, legal, and investment costs. Adjusted net income was up 3.5%.
Abbott put out a third-quarter adjusted EPS outlook of $1.38 to $1.46. The new range keeps the focus on revenue growth. After a slow first half and only a slight bump to the earnings outlook, investors still want to see if Exact Sciences, Libre glucose monitors and cardiac devices can lift expansion as Abbott’s overall revenue base grows bigger.
