Abbott Cuts 2026 EPS Forecast After Exact Sciences Deal as Q1 Sales Rise 7.8%

Abbott lowered its 2026 earnings forecast on April 16 to reflect its acquisition of cancer diagnostics company Exact Sciences, as it reported first-quarter sales of $11.16 billion, up 7.8% on a reported basis and 3.7% on a comparable basis, in its first-quarter results release.

The company now expects full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share of $5.38 to $5.58, which it said includes 20 cents of dilution related to Exact Sciences. That is down from its previous forecast of $5.55 to $5.80, MedTech Dive reported. Abbott forecast full-year comparable sales growth of 6.5% to 7.5% and second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.25 to $1.31.

First-quarter GAAP diluted EPS was 61 cents and adjusted diluted EPS was $1.15, up 6%, the company said. Net income was $1.08 billion, about 19% lower than a year earlier, according to MedTech Dive.

Devices grow, nutrition and diagnostics lag

Medical device sales rose 13.2% on a reported basis to $5.54 billion and 8.5% on a comparable basis. Abbott said growth was led by double-digit increases in electrophysiology, heart failure and rhythm management. Sales of continuous glucose monitors in Diabetes Care grew 14.2% as reported and 7.6% on a comparable basis.

Nutrition sales fell 6.0% as reported and 7.7% on a comparable basis. Diagnostics sales rose 6.1% as reported and 1.8% on a comparable basis; Abbott said its rapid and molecular diagnostics results reflected lower demand for respiratory virus tests in a weaker season than a year earlier.

The first-quarter results "disappointed across major segments of MedTech," including diabetes, structural heart and diagnostics, RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh wrote in a research note, MedTech Dive reported. Diabetes care sales of $2.08 billion grew by more than 7% but fell short of analysts' expectation of 11.5% organic growth, Singh wrote. Abbott shares fell 4% to $97.58 on Thursday morning, according to the publication.

Exact Sciences joins as a cancer diagnostics unit

Abbott completed the Exact Sciences purchase on March 23 and now reports its sales as a Cancer Diagnostics business. The company said growth there was driven by double-digit growth of the Cologuard colorectal screening test and sales of Cancerguard, a multi-cancer screening test launched last year. MedTech Dive put the deal at $21 billion.

Abbott expects Exact to add about $3 billion of incremental sales in 2026, chairman and CEO Robert Ford said on the earnings call, according to MedTech Dive. Abbott also promoted Jake Orville, who previously led Exact's Cologuard screening business, to senior vice president of cancer diagnostics, reporting to Ford.

"Our first-quarter results were aligned with our expectations to start the year," Ford said in the release. "The acquisition of Exact Sciences adds another high-growth business to the Abbott portfolio, further strengthening our confidence in delivering accelerating growth as we move through the year."

Ford said on the call that Abbott expects Food and Drug Administration authorization for a planned dual-analyte glucose-ketone sensor in the second half of the year, MedTech Dive reported.