(Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories raised its annual profit forecast on Thursday and beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings, buoyed by strong sales of heart and diabetes care devices.
Like the rest of the industry, the company's medical devices unit has benefited from a resurgence in heart valve and pacemaker sales in recent quarters as more people, especially older adults, choose to postpone surgeries during the pandemic .
The business also benefited from strong sales of diabetes care devices, particularly FreeStyle Libre. Sales of blood glucose monitors grew 18% to $1.6 billion.
Overall, medical device sales grew 10.2% to $4.73 billion, higher than analysts' average estimate of $4.66 billion.
The company now expects full-year profit per share of $4.61 to $4.71, compared with its previous forecast of $4.55 to $4.70.
Adjusted quarterly profit was $1.14 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.10, according to LSEG.
(Reporting by Pratik Jain, Puyaan Singh and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
