Original from: Medtech Dive
Abbott Laboratories faced ¡°a very challenging quarter¡ probably our most challenging,¡± CEO Robert Ford said Wednesday on an earnings call. The company, like its medtech peers, is grappling with hospital staffing shortages, foreign-exchange rate fluctuations and continued supply chain disruptions.
¡°Inflation continues to be a stubborn force globally, but we¡¯ve started to see some moderating impacts in certain parts of our business compared to earlier in the year,¡± Ford said. ¡°COVID remains as unpredictable as ever with intermittent surges continuing throughout the world.¡±
Those challenges were offset by higher-than-expected sales of COVID-19 tests, leading the company to raise its earnings forecast for 2022.
Abbott launched its FreeStyle Libre 3 continuous glucose monitor in the third quarter. The company also reopened its baby formula plant in Sturgis, Mich. following an investigation of bacterial infections in infants.
Diagnostics: Sales of COVID-19 tests brought in $1.7 billion in the quarter, ¡°significantly¡± above the company¡¯s expectations, but still lower than last year, Ford said. Demand for laboratory-based tests has declined, while sales of at-home rapid tests were about on par with the third quarter of 2021.
Rapid-test sales accounted for the majority of the total, about $1.6 billion, beating J.P. Morgan analysts¡¯ estimates of $769 million, Marcus wrote.
¡°Right now it¡¯s looking like COVID test sales are stickier than most of us assumed,¡± Ford said.
Source: Abbott Q3 device sales slowed by supply chain pressures; COVID-19 tests exceed expectations
