Key Stats
- Current Price: ~$91
- Q1 2026 Revenue: $11.16B (+7.8% YoY)
- Q1 2026 Adjusted EPS: $1.15 (+6% YoY)
- Q2 2026 Adjusted EPS Guidance: $1.25 to $1.31
- Full-Year 2026 Comparable Sales Growth Guidance: 6.5% to 7.5%
- Full-Year 2026 Adjusted EPS Guidance Midpoint: $5.48
- TIKR Model Price Target: $150
- Implied Upside Over ~5 Years: ~65%
What Happened?
Abbott Laboratories stock (ABT) posted Q1 2026 adjusted EPS of $1.15, up 6% from $1.09 in the prior-year quarter, meeting guidance despite absorbing earlier-than-expected financing costs tied to the Exact Sciences acquisition and a weaker-than-expected respiratory season.
Revenue came in at $11.16B, up 7.8% from $10.36B in Q1 2025.
Medical Devices led segment performance, with sales growing 8.5% in the quarter.
Electrophysiology grew 13%, powered by the limited market release of two new pulsed field ablation catheters: the Volt PFA in the U.S. and the TactiFlex Duo in Europe.
Rhythm Management grew 13%, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to Chairman and CEO Robert Ford on the Q1 2026 earnings call.
Continuous glucose monitoring sales reached $2B, growing 7.5%, with the slowdown attributed to an international tender renewal delay and tough comparisons from shelf restocking dynamics in the first half of 2025.
Management guided CGM back to double-digit growth in Q2, citing a global patient opportunity of 70 to 80 million addressable users against a current installed base of roughly 10 to 12 million.
Cancer Diagnostics grew 13% on a comparable basis, driven by mid-teens Cologuard growth and high-teens growth in international markets.
The Exact Sciences acquisition, which closed March 23, is expected to add approximately $3B in incremental comparable sales in 2026, according to CFO Phil Boudreau on the Q1 2026 earnings call.
Diagnostics overall grew 2% on a comparable basis, with Core Lab up 3% but Rapid and Molecular Diagnostics down 10% on weak respiratory testing demand.
Established Pharmaceuticals grew 9%, with double-digit growth across several Latin America and Asia Pacific markets.
Nutrition finished slightly ahead of expectations, with management describing early positive volume response to Q4 2025 price reductions on products including Ensure, though the transition remains incomplete.
Full-year 2026 comparable sales growth guidance is 6.5% to 7.5%, with the full-year adjusted EPS guidance midpoint set at $5.48, reflecting $0.20 of acquisition-related dilution, consistent with assumptions at the time of the deal announcement.
Q2 2026 adjusted EPS guidance is $1.25 to $1.31.
Abbott Laboratories Stock: Financials
The Q1 2026 income statement shows a company managing SG&A step-up pressure from the Exact Sciences integration while holding gross margin stable within a narrow multi-quarter band.
Gross margin came in at 56.3% in Q1 2026, compared to 57.1% in Q1 2025.
The 56.3% reading is consistent with where Abbott Laboratories stock has generally tracked: gross margin ranged from 55.4% to 57.1% across the prior four quarters, indicating no structural deterioration.
Operating income was $1.84B in Q1 2026, up 5.5% from $1.75B in Q1 2025.
Operating margin contracted to 16.5% from 16.9% in the prior-year quarter, with SG&A rising to $3.26B from $3.05B in Q1 2025, a step-up consistent with Exact Sciences onboarding costs.
The Q4 2025 operating margin of 21.6% is not a meaningful run-rate benchmark: Q1 margins compress seasonally relative to Q4, as the Q1 2025 operating margin of 16.9% versus Q4 2024’s 19.8% confirms.
Management confirmed on the call that adjusted gross margin for Q1 2026 was 56.3%, adjusted R&D was 6.7% of sales, and adjusted SG&A was 29.3% of sales.
Abbott Laboratories Stock: Valuation Model Take
The TIKR model prices Abbott Laboratories stock at $150.21 against a current price of ~$91, implying approximately 65% total upside, or roughly 11.2% annualized over a 4.7-year horizon to December 2030.
The mid-case model assumes a 7.8% revenue CAGR and a 20.6% net income margin, both within reach given Abbott’s 1-year historical revenue growth of 5.7% and the Exact Sciences addition accelerating the top-line trajectory.
The Q1 2026 results are broadly consistent with these assumptions: EPS grew 6%, revenue grew 7.8%, and Exact Sciences integration is proceeding without disclosed disruption.
The $0.20 EPS dilution was a known quantity, and it does not alter the mid-case path if Exact Sciences reaches its projected $3B comparable contribution in 2026.
Abbott Laboratories stock trades at a meaningful discount to the TIKR model’s mid-case fair value, and this report does not weaken that case: execution is on track, the medical device pipeline is advancing, and the second-half acceleration drivers are clearly identified.
The investment argument for Abbott Laboratories stock hinges on whether the second-half growth acceleration across Nutrition, Core Lab Diagnostics, and Electrophysiology actually materializes, or whether the softer first half marks a more persistent reset.
What Has to Go Right
- Nutrition volume recovery accelerates through 2026: early data from Q4 2025 price reductions shows volume growth beginning to follow, tracked weekly by management on a 2025 H1 baseline, with new product launches providing additional distribution gains
- Electrophysiology exits 2026 growing above the mid-to-high teens market rate, supported by broadening Volt U.S. and TactiFlex Duo Europe launches with consistently strong early physician feedback on speed, lesion durability, and conscious sedation capability
- CGM returns to double-digit growth in Q2 as the international tender delay resolves and restocking comparisons roll off, with Type 2 non-insulin reimbursement representing an unmodeled upside catalyst covering nearly 10 million currently uncovered patients
- Exact Sciences delivers on the $3B 2026 comparable sales projection, with Cologuard’s 25% rescreen contribution growing as the 3-year cohort builds and international expansion begins
What Could Still Go Wrong
- China Core Lab stabilization stalls: Q1 sales were flat vs. declines of 15% to 30% across each quarter of 2025, but management models China at a single-digit decline for the full year and new VBP categories in fertility and cancer diagnostics represent incremental headwind
- Respiratory testing revenue does not recover in Q4: management explicitly excluded a stronger-than-average flu season from the full-year guidance, meaning the upside is optionality rather than modeled, and a repeat weak season removes a meaningful block of Diagnostics revenue
- SG&A expansion from Exact Sciences integration outpaces near-term revenue synergies, keeping operating margin below the 19% to 20% range that sustained Q2 through Q4 2025 performance
- CGM competition and international tender delays persist beyond Q2, preventing a return to the double-digit growth that both management guidance and the TIKR model assume
Should You Invest in Abbott Laboratories?
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