TLDR
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT) stock fell 4% to $98.12 in premarket trading Wednesday.
- Abbott plans to spin off its nutrition business, including Similac and Ensure, by the end of 2027.
- Q3 adjusted EPS was $1.42, a penny above estimates, and sales were $13.01 billion.
- The nutrition unit has about $8.5 billion in annual sales and has faced falling market share and lawsuits.
- Full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance is $5.50 to $5.55 a share, with the midpoint unchanged.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) stock fell 4% to $98.12 in premarket trading Wednesday. The drop followed a plan to spin off its nutrition business and a third-quarter report that only matched forecasts.
The company said it will separate the unit into an independent, publicly traded company by the end of 2027. The move will be a tax-free distribution to existing shareholders.
What Abbott Is Spinning Off
The new company will house Similac, Ensure, PediaSure, Pedialyte and Glucerna. It is expected to bring in about $8.5 billion in annual sales.
CEO Robert Ford said the split lets Abbott focus on its ācore higher-growthā portfolio. That includes medical devices and diagnostics.
Daniel Salvadori will oversee the new company. He is currently executive vice president and group president of established pharmaceuticals and nutritional products.
Abbott does not expect the spinoff to affect its 2026 or 2027 guidance. The unit has been a weak spot, with falling sales and lost market share in pediatric formulas.
The business has also faced legal trouble. In late August, Abbott agreed to pay $670 million to resolve claims involving about 2,000 infants, and it denied any liability.
Third-Quarter Numbers
Adjusted earnings came in at $1.42 a share, a penny above estimates. Sales hit $13.01 billion, just ahead of the $12.99 billion forecast.
Reported revenue grew 14.5% from a year earlier. Not a blowout, but a clean enough print.
Nutrition sales were $2.26 billion, up about 5% from last year. Established pharmaceuticals and medical devices each grew nearly 7%.
Diagnostics sales jumped 47% to $3.31 billion. The March acquisition of Exact Sciences helped lift the comparable figures.
Abbott tightened its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.50 to $5.55 a share. The midpoint matches its earlier outlook.
The company still expects about 6% comparable sales growth for the full year. That meant no raise came along to offset the spinoff news.
The stock was already under pressure coming into the session. It was down nearly 16% for the year and well below its 52-week high of $132.03.
Insider data shows net selling of about $47.5 million over the past 12 months. The wider market was firm, with S&P 500 futures up 0.3%.
At last check, Abbott stock was trading about 2% lower on the day, after the premarket drop of 4% to $98.12.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
