Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) stock fell 1.61% (As on October 20, 11:42:41 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted better than expected results for the third quarter of FY 22. Established Pharmaceuticals (EPD) sales increased more than 12% in the quarter. Strong performance was led by double-digit growth across several countries, including India, China, Brazil, and Vietnam, along with broad-based strength across several therapeutic areas. EPD has now achieved double-digit organic sales growth since the beginning of last year, fueled by a steady cadence of new product launches and strong commercial execution. In diagnostics, where COVID test sales of $1.7 billion were significantly higher than expectations but lower compared to last year, which resulted in a modest decline in sales growth overall.  Excluding COVID testing revenues, sales of routine diagnostic tests grew 6% in the quarter overall and even faster internationally, fueled by the continued global rollout of the Alinity instrument for immunoassay, clinical chemistry, and molecular testing. During the quarter in the U.S., cardiovascular procedure volumes were somewhat soft in July before strengthening in August and September. Internationally, in addition to similar procedure volume trends, sales were negatively impacted by intermittent COVID lockdowns in China as well as supply constraints in certain areas, most notably in electrophysiology. In diabetes care, sales of FreeStyle Libre exceeded $1 billion in the quarter, and our user base expanded to approximately 4.5 million users globally.

ABT in the third quarter of FY 22 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.15, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 91 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue of $10.41 billion in the third quarter of FY 22, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $9.58 billion. Sales increased 1.3% on an organic basis in the quarter.

For the full year, the company now forecast ongoing earnings per share to be in the range of $5.17 to $5.23, which is comprised of the year-to-date results through September, plus ongoing earnings per share guidance of $0.86 to $0.92 for the fourth quarter. The company forecast COVID testing-related sales of approximately $500 million, which does not assume a COVID testing surge in the fourth quarter. Excluding U.S. sales impacted by the temporary manufacturing disruption, ABT forecast fourth-quarter organic sales growth to be in the mid-to-high single digits for the remainder of the combined businesses, which includes medical devices, established pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, excluding COVID testing-related sales, and areas of nutrition, not impacted by the disruption.