Abbott Reports $1 Billion Profit Despite Falling Covid Testing Sales

Abbott Laboratories reported $1 billion in fourth quarter profits despite an “expected year-over-year decline in Covid-19 testing-related sales,” the company said.

Abbott, which has been one of the world’s biggest makers and suppliers of diagnostic tests for Covid-19 during the global pandemic, reported an adjusted fourth-quarter profit of $1.03 billion, or $1.03 per share, which beat Wall Street analysts forecasts.

Fourth quarter sales fell 12% from a year earlier to $10 billion from $11.5 billion in the year-ago quarter thanks to the dip in sales of Covid tests and loss of revenue from the nutritional business as a result of a high profile manufacturing disruption at Abbott’s Sturgis, Mich., facility last year.

Abbott, however, said its underlying diversified portfolio of businesses, including established pharmaceuticals and medical devices including its top-selling glucose monitoring device FreeStyle Libre remain strong. “Excluding COVID-19 testing-related sales and U.S. infant formula sales that were impacted by manufacturing disruptions, full-year 2022 sales increased 1.9 percent on a reported basis and 7.4 percent on an organic basis,” Abbott said in its fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings report released Wednesday.

Abbott said worldwide Covid-19 testing-related sales were $1.069 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. And for the full year 2022, Abbott said worldwide Covid-19 testing related sales were $8.36 billion compared to $7.7 billion in the prior year.

“We significantly exceeded the EPS guidance we provided at the beginning of last year despite challenging global business conditions,” Abbott chairman and chief executive Robert B. Ford said.