Why Abbott Is Trading Lower Today

Abbott Laboratories ABT is trading lower Tuesday morning after the company issued an updated outlook for 2021 below estimates. 

What Happened: Abbott announced an update to its financial outlook for full-year 2021 as a result of significantly lower COVID-19 diagnostic testing demand. 

Abbott expects full-year adjusted earnings-per-share to be $4.30 to $4.50, which came in below the estimate of $5.04 per share.

See also: Best Pharma ETFs

The company attributed the decreased testing demand to significant reductions in COVID-19 cases, accelerated rollout of COVID-19 vaccines globally and U.S. health authority guidance on testing for fully vaccinated individuals.

"We've recently seen a rapid decline in COVID-19 testing demand and anticipate this trend will continue, which led us to adjust our full-year guidance. At the same time, excluding COVID-19 tests, our organic base business growth is accelerating, we continue to see improving end-markets and our new product pipeline continues to be highly productive," said Robert Ford, president and CEO of Abbott.

Price Action: Abbott traded as high as $128.54 and as low as $86.16 over a 52-week period. 

At last check, the stock was down 5% at $110.67.

Photo courtesy of Abbott.