New York, Feb 2, 2026, 14:30 EST — Regular session
- Abbott shares edged down in afternoon trade after Barclays lowered its price target.
- The stock has been trying to stabilise since a late-January outlook flagged pressure in nutrition and diagnostics.
- Traders are watching for fresh updates from medical meetings this week and the Feb. 13 dividend.
Abbott Laboratories shares were down about 0.3% at $109.00 in afternoon trade, after Barclays lowered its price target to $142 from $169 while keeping an Overweight rating. The stock traded between $108.94 and $110.97, with about 6.1 million shares changing hands.
A price target is a bank’s estimate of where a stock could trade over the next 12 months. Coming right after a messy stretch for Abbott, the cut is another reminder that analysts are still moving their numbers around, not just their words.
That matters because Abbott’s latest guidance put two steady businesses — nutrition and diagnostics — back in focus for the wrong reasons. On Jan. 22, the company missed quarterly revenue estimates and forecast current-quarter profit below expectations, sending the shares down 7%; CEO Robert Ford told investors nutrition growth would be “challenged” for a couple of quarters. Bernstein analyst Christian Moore also flagged the risk of a broader “negative aura” around infant formula, even though Abbott was not caught up in recent batch pullbacks by Nestle, Danone and Lactalis. Reuters
Abbott has told investors it expects full-year 2026 organic sales growth — excluding currency swings and deal-related changes — of 6.5% to 7.5%. It also forecast adjusted earnings, which strip out certain one-time items, of $5.55 to $5.80 per share for 2026 and $1.12 to $1.18 for the first quarter. The company said a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share is payable on Feb. 13.
Monday’s move came with the broader market higher. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up in midday trading, giving even defensive names some lift as February got underway.
Outside earnings season, investors will look for smaller tells. Abbott’s structural heart unit lists a run of medical meetings, including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons meeting through Monday and the International Stroke Conference on Feb. 4-6, both in New Orleans.
For now, traders are watching for any sign the nutrition slowdown is easing without another hit to volumes, and whether diagnostics can get back to cleaner growth as the year rolls on. The stock’s reaction to analyst notes suggests the market still wants proof, not just a forecast.
But the downside case is straightforward. If pricing pushback lingers in nutrition, or if diagnostics recovery keeps slipping, more target cuts could follow and the shares may struggle to hold a base even when the wider market is firm.
Next up: investors will scan any readouts tied to this week’s medical conferences and keep an eye on the Feb. 13 dividend date for the next concrete marker on Abbott’s calendar.
