New York, January 23, 2026, 18:30 ET — After-hours
- Abbott shares were last down about 1% after Friday’s close, extending a pullback that began with Thursday’s earnings drop.
- Focus stays on nutrition demand and diagnostics as the company guides first-quarter profit below Street estimates.
- Traders head into next week watching follow-through from analyst notes and any fresh company color on nutrition pricing and Libre.
Abbott Laboratories shares were last down 1.1% at $107.42 in after-hours trading on Friday.
The stock has been under pressure since Thursday, when Abbott forecast current-quarter profit below estimates and missed Wall Street targets for quarterly revenue, hit by weakness in nutrition and diagnostics. Chief executive Robert Ford said higher manufacturing costs pushed prices up and “suppressed demand” as shoppers turned more price sensitive, and he warned nutrition growth would be “challenged” for a couple of quarters before improving in the second half. Bernstein analyst Christian Moore said Abbott was not affected by contamination fears that prompted rivals including Nestle and Danone to pull infant formula batches, but warned of a potential “negative aura” around formula use. (Reuters)
Why it matters now: Abbott is trying to lean on faster-growing devices even as older profit pools wobble. The next few months will test whether a nutrition reset is a brief price-and-volume hiccup or something stickier that forces a slower 2026.
The near-term setup also hits sentiment because investors have treated Abbott’s device franchises — including diabetes care — as a steadier growth engine. When the softer pieces pull down the top line, the market tends to punish the whole mix first and sort out the math later.
In its results release, Abbott said fourth-quarter sales rose 4.4% to $11.459 billion, while adjusted profit was $1.50 per share. For 2026, it projected organic sales growth — excluding currency swings and certain business exits — of 6.5% to 7.5%, with adjusted earnings per share of $5.55 to $5.80; it also guided first-quarter adjusted EPS to $1.12 to $1.18. The company said medical devices sales rose 12.3% in the quarter, and noted diabetes-care continuous glucose monitor sales of $2.0 billion, up 15%. (Abbott MediaRoom)
Analyst notes kept coming on Friday. Wells Fargo cut its price target to $122 from $146 while keeping an “Overweight” rating, pointing to what it called “transitory headwinds” including nutrition pricing actions, a delayed flu season affecting rapid diagnostics, and an international recall affecting the Libre line. (Investing)
A regulatory breadcrumb landed too: a Form 8-K filed on Thursday said Abbott had announced fourth-quarter and full-year results, with the earnings release furnished as an exhibit. (SEC)
There are risks on both sides of the ledger. If price moves in nutrition keep pushing shoppers to trade down — or if the broader formula category stays jittery — Abbott may have less room to “grow out of it” this spring. A slower rebound would also make it harder for strong devices to carry the story alone.
For Monday’s session, traders will be watching whether the stock finds footing after the two-day slide, and whether more broker notes sharpen the debate on how long nutrition stays weak. Beyond that, the next clear catalyst is any update on the planned Exact Sciences deal, which Abbott has said it still expects to close in the second quarter of 2026.
