Abbott Laboratories (ABT)

Business

From the FY2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, accession 0001628280-26-010185.

Abbott Laboratories discovers, develops, manufactures and sells a broad and diversified line of healthcare products. It sells medical devices, diagnostic systems and tests, adult and pediatric nutritional products, and branded generic pharmaceuticals, to hospitals, laboratories, blood banks, physicians' offices, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, consumers and government agencies in more than 160 countries. Net sales were $44.3 billion in 2025. Sales outside the United States accounted for approximately 61 percent of the total, and emerging markets, every country except the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Western Europe, for approximately 37 percent. Abbott is an Illinois corporation, incorporated in 1900, with principal corporate offices in Illinois; as of December 31, 2025 it employed approximately 115,000 people, 69 percent of them outside the U.S., and operated 89 manufacturing sites across roughly 44 million square feet of owned and leased property.

Abbott reports in four segments.

Medical Devices, the largest business, sells rhythm management, electrophysiology, heart failure, vascular and structural heart devices for cardiovascular disease, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and blood glucose products for diabetes, and neuromodulation devices for chronic pain and movement disorders. Principal products include the Aveir leadless pacemakers and Gallant implantable cardioverter defibrillators; the Volt Pulsed Field Ablation System, the TactiFlex and TactiCath ablation catheter families and the EnSite mapping systems; the HeartMate left ventricular assist device family and the CardioMEMS HF pulmonary artery sensor; the XIENCE drug-eluting coronary stents, Perclose vessel closure devices and Diamondback 360 orbital atherectomy systems; MitraClip, TriClip, Navitor, Amplatzer and Tendyne structural heart devices; the FreeStyle Libre CGM system and the Lingo consumer wellness sensor; and the Proclaim and Eterna spinal cord stimulators and Infinity and Liberta RC deep brain stimulation systems. CGM alone generated $7.6 billion of sales in 2025, up from $6.4 billion in 2024.

Diagnostic Products sells diagnostic systems and tests worldwide: core laboratory and transfusion medicine systems (the Alinity family, ARCHITECT and Cell-Dyn), molecular PCR systems (Alinity m and m2000), point-of-care testing (i-STAT), rapid lateral-flow and molecular tests (BinaxNOW, Panbio, ID NOW, Afinion, Cholestech LDX), and laboratory informatics and automation. The segment competes on technological innovation, price, service, laboratory efficiency and long-term supply contracts, and its products can be subject to rapid obsolescence.

Nutritional Products sells pediatric and adult nutrition worldwide, the Similac and EleCare infant and follow-on formulas; Ensure, Glucerna, PediaSure, Pedialyte, ProSure and Juven; and enteral feeding products such as Jevity, Osmolite and Nepro, directly to consumers and to institutions, retailers, healthcare facilities and government agencies. Competition turns on consumer preference, advertising, formulation, ingredient innovation, price and retail distribution, and private label and local manufacturers add pricing pressure.

Established Pharmaceutical Products sells a line of branded generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars manufactured worldwide and marketed exclusively outside the United States, principally in emerging markets. The portfolio spans gastroenterology (Creon, Duspatal, Dicetel, Heptral, Duphalac), women's health (Duphaston, Femoston), cardiovascular and metabolic (Lipanthyl, TriCor, Omacor, Physiotens, Synthroid), pain and central nervous system (Serc, Brufen, Sevedol), and respiratory drugs and vaccines (clarithromycin sold as Klacid/Claribid/Klaricid, and the Influvac influenza vaccine).

Abbott's business is not significantly seasonal, and no single customer's loss would have a material adverse effect. Products are sold under short-term receivable arrangements; patent protection, technological and performance features and contract inclusion drive which products sell, while price controls, competition and rebates drive net selling prices. Rebates and allowances are large: in 2025, 44 percent of consolidated gross revenues were subject to rebates, and rebates and chargebacks charged against gross sales came to $4.8 billion, concentrated in the Nutritional Products and Diabetes Care businesses. Abbott owns or licenses a substantial patent portfolio, with patents expiring between 2026 and 2046, but believes no single patent, license or trademark is material to the business as a whole, and the 10-K states there are no significant patent or license expirations in the next three years expected to materially affect Abbott.

Development, manufacture, marketing and distribution are comprehensively regulated by the FDA and equivalent authorities worldwide, and Abbott's laboratories and testing services carry additional registration, certification and licensure obligations. Cost containment is a persistent feature of the end markets: DRG and prospective payment systems in U.S. institutional care, Medicare competitive bidding for durable medical equipment and enteral nutrition, and state cost-containment rebates under the federally funded WIC program for infant formula.

On November 19, 2025, Abbott entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Exact Sciences Corporation at $105 per common share in cash, a total equity value of approximately $21 billion and an estimated enterprise value of $23 billion, with the financing contemplating absorption of Exact Sciences' estimated $1.8 billion of net debt, in order to enter the cancer diagnostics market. The transaction closed on March 23, 2026 and is described under "Current quarter" below.

Risk factors

From the FY2025 Form 10-K, accession 0001628280-26-010185. Condensed; the filing's own discussion is the complete statement.

Business and operational

• Global supply chain. Abbott's supply chain is large and complex, and disruption to it could negatively affect results. The filing cites the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation and labor shortages earlier in the decade as having hurt the cost and availability of raw materials and services.
• Acquisitions, licensing and divestitures. Deals may not close on time, on a cost-effective basis, or at all; acquired products and technologies may fail or demand more resources than expected; integration may fail; and Abbott could assume significant debt and unknown or contingent liabilities. Acquisition-related charges, intangible amortization and impairments can deteriorate the credit rating, raise borrowing costs and reduce liquidity.
• Acquisition indebtedness. Abbott's consolidated indebtedness was approximately $12.9 billion at December 31, 2025, and it planned to fund the Exact Sciences acquisition with roughly $20 billion of borrowings. The increase reduces flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions, may make additional financing harder or costlier to arrange, and could cause a deterioration in credit ratings and additional restrictive covenants.
• Cybersecurity and protected data. Abbott's information systems and products have been, and are expected to continue to be, targets of malware and other incidents. A significant incident, or a breach of the protected personal and health information Abbott collects through medical products and services, could bring regulatory inquiries or litigation, manufacturing disruption, product availability, functionality or safety problems, reputational damage, lost revenue and penalties.
• R&D and data-driven business models. Failure is inherent in developing new products; promising candidates can fail on efficacy or safety, clinical outcomes, regulatory approval, manufacturing cost or intellectual property, and even successful launches can be rendered obsolete by changing preferences, standards or competitors' innovations. A parallel risk attaches to the new operating models needed to support connected, data-driven healthcare solutions.
• Manufacturing. Manufacture of many products is highly exacting and complex; equipment malfunction, protocol failures, raw material or supply chain problems, cybersecurity incidents and environmental factors can force product to be discarded or, if discovered after release, trigger recalls and product liability costs. Third-party manufacturers and single suppliers are used for certain products and materials.

Legal and regulatory

• Cost of compliance and consequences of non-compliance. Approvals may be delayed or never granted. Non-compliance can bring warning letters, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, recalls, consent decrees, seizures and criminal prosecution, up to partial or total shutdown of production. The filing's own example is the February 2022 voluntary recall of certain powder infant formula made at Sturgis, Michigan, the temporary halt of manufacturing there, and the May 2022 consent decree with the FDA.
• Government benefit programs, fraud and abuse. Reimbursement, price reporting, anti-kickback and false claims laws carry criminal and civil sanctions including fines, imprisonment and exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Administration programs, and are subject to evolving interpretation.
• Healthcare regulatory change. Changes to reimbursement programs, coverage decisions or patient access could reduce demand or prices; Affordable Care Act provisions have been and may continue to be modified, expanded, repealed or invalidated.
• Intellectual property. Expiration, successful challenge, invalidation or circumvention of Abbott's patents and trademarks, or non-enforcement by particular countries, could reduce future revenues and operating earnings. Separately, competitors' intellectual property claims could force license agreements on unfavorable terms, significant damages, or an injunction against affected products.
• Product safety and liability. Approval rests on limited-duration trials; post-approval use over longer periods in more patients can surface safety concerns requiring label warnings, narrowed indications, or halted sales. Abbott is routinely the subject of product liability claims, and product liability losses are self-insured.

Economic, geopolitical and industry

• Geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions. With approximately 61 percent of 2025 net sales outside the U.S., Abbott is exposed to tariffs and other trade protection measures, sanctions, price controls, expropriation, currency conversion restrictions, inflation and interest rates. The filing specifically flags U.S.-imposed tariffs and possible reciprocal measures, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which to date Abbott has managed without material impact.
• Cost containment. Downward pricing pressure from governments and private organizations will reduce future revenues and operating earnings to the extent it is not offset by greater patient access.
• Competition. Competitors' products may be safer, more effective, better marketed or cheaper, and disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence could reshape the competitive landscape.
• Foreign exchange. A significant portion of revenues and costs is realized in other currencies; exchange movements have adversely affected and may continue to affect reported results, asset and liability values and cash flows, and hedging mitigates only part of the exposure.
• Tax. Complex and evolving rules, including the OECD's two-pillar plan, and adverse decisions on Abbott's tax positions could materially affect the effective tax rate and results.
• Sovereign credit quality. Deterioration in certain countries' economic condition can lengthen receivable collection, particularly where customers are government healthcare systems.
• Other factors named include changes in accounting and other standards; fair-value measurement differences for pensions, retiree healthcare, stock compensation, intangibles, goodwill and contingent consideration; equity investment values; counterparty creditworthiness; the operational challenges of doing business internationally; climate and public-health events; labor disputes; shifts in the mix of business units; changes in major distributor or retailer buying patterns; and legal challenges that delay commercialization.

Legal proceedings of note. As of January 31, 2026, Abbott was a party to 1,760 lawsuits in federal and state courts alleging that cow's-milk-based specialty formula administered to preterm infants caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Federal cases are consolidated for pretrial purposes in the Northern District of Illinois, where Abbott won summary judgment in the first three "bellwether" cases (May, August and October 2025). Outcomes in state courts have varied: a Missouri jury awarded a plaintiff $495 million in July 2024, which Abbott appealed; a second Missouri jury returned a unanimous defense verdict in October 2024, after which the court granted the plaintiff a new trial in March 2025 and Abbott appealed. Separately, the DOJ's Western District of Michigan office has been conducting a criminal investigation into Abbott's powdered infant formula manufacturing since November 2022; the FTC issued a civil investigative demand in January 2023 regarding WIC formula bidding; six consolidated shareholder derivative suits were pending; and in November and December 2025 the DOJ and several state Attorneys General partially intervened in a civil qui tam action over the Sturgis facility alleging Federal and state false claims act violations.

Management's discussion, fiscal year 2025

From the FY2025 Form 10-K, accession 0001628280-26-010185.

Sales. Net sales were $44.328 billion in 2025, against $41.950 billion in 2024 and $40.109 billion in 2023. Growth was attributable primarily to Medical Devices and Established Pharmaceutical Products. Foreign exchange was close to neutral in 2025, a relatively stronger dollar early in the year weakened later, leaving a 0.2 percent favorable impact on both international and total sales, after a 4.2 percent unfavorable impact on international sales in 2024. Excluding foreign exchange, segment sales moved as follows:

• Medical Devices +11.9 percent (2024: +13.7 percent), with growth in every business and double-digit gains in Diabetes Care, Heart Failure, Electrophysiology, Structural Heart and, in 2025, Rhythm Management. Diabetes Care led, with CGM sales of $7.6 billion, up 17.4 percent ex-currency, from $6.4 billion. Heart Failure grew 12.7 percent, Structural Heart 11.5 percent, Electrophysiology 11.6 percent and Rhythm Management 10.2 percent, the last driven by Aveir leadless pacemakers and partly offset by lower traditional pacemaker and ICD sales.
• Established Pharmaceutical Products +7.4 percent (2024: +9.2 percent), broad-based across countries, led by cardiometabolic, gastroenterology and CNS/pain management. Key Emerging Markets grew 9.5 percent in both years; Other Emerging Markets grew only 1.4 percent in 2025 (2024: 8.4 percent), held back by the absence of deferred gain amortization from a prior transaction that was fully amortized in 2024.
• Nutritional Products +1.1 percent (2024: +5.9 percent), effectively flat, reflecting price increases against lower volumes, particularly in the U.S. U.S. Pediatric Nutritionals fell 2.3 percent on lower infant formula sales after an 11.7 percent gain in 2024; U.S. Adult Nutritionals fell 2.2 percent on lower Ensure sales and the March 2024 discontinuation of ZonePerfect; International Adult Nutritionals rose 5.1 percent.
• Diagnostic Products −4.5 percent (2024: −3.9 percent), on continued decline in COVID-19 testing and challenging market conditions in China including volume-based procurement. COVID-19 testing-related sales fell to $297 million in 2025 from $747 million in 2024 and $1.6 billion in 2023. Rapid Diagnostics fell 18.0 percent; Core Laboratory grew 2.1 percent on Alinity growth outside China.

Emerging markets sales grew 5.1 percent ex-currency in 2025 (2024: 8.2 percent). Operations in Russia and Ukraine represent approximately 2 percent of total revenues and net assets, with no material financial impact to date.

Margins and expenses. Gross margin was 52.6 percent of net sales in 2025, up from 50.9 percent in 2024 and 50.3 percent in 2023, reflecting margin improvement initiatives partly offset by higher costs, including tariffs, and unfavorable foreign exchange. The consolidated operating margin profile rose to 18.2 percent from 16.3 percent in 2024 and 16.2 percent in 2023. By segment, operating margin was 33.7 percent in Medical Devices (from 32.4 percent), 19.5 percent in Diagnostics (down from 24.4 percent in 2023, on lower COVID-19 test demand), 18.4 percent in Nutritionals (from 17.9 percent), and 23.3 percent in Established Pharmaceuticals (down from 23.8 percent in 2023). R&D expense was $2.9 billion (2024: $2.8 billion; 2023: $2.7 billion); SG&A was $12.3 billion (2024: $11.7 billion; 2023: $10.9 billion), rising on higher selling and marketing spend.

Restructuring. In 2025 management approved plans to streamline operations in Diagnostics, Nutritionals, Established Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, recording $274 million of severance and other charges ($109 million in cost of products sold, $53 million in R&D, $112 million in SG&A) plus $28 million of fixed asset impairments. Payments were $94 million in 2025 with $180 million of liabilities remaining at December 31, 2025.

Below the line. Net interest expense fell to $185 million from $215 million, mainly on the repayment of roughly $2.0 billion of long-term debt across November 2024, March 2025 and September 2025. Other income was $548 million (2024: $376 million; 2023: $479 million), including $590 million of non-service pension and post-retirement benefit income; the 2024 figure was depressed by a $143 million loss on the sale of a non-core Established Pharmaceutical Products business. Tax included approximately $610 million of expense related to a deferred tax asset recognized as a significant non-cash benefit in a prior year, $92 million of excess share-based compensation benefits and approximately $70 million of net benefit from resolving prior-year positions. Net earnings were $6.524 billion and diluted EPS $3.72, against $13.402 billion and $7.64 in 2024, a comparison distorted by $7.5 billion of non-cash valuation allowance releases recorded in 2024 following a restructuring of certain foreign affiliates, and $5.723 billion and $3.26 in 2023.

Tax disputes. Abbott has contested IRS Statutory Notices of Deficiency for 2019 ($417 million), 2017–2018 ($192 million) and 2020 ($443 million, plus a contested deduction worth an estimated $440 million of cash tax benefit in another year), all centred on reallocation of income between U.S. entities and foreign affiliates; petitions are before the U.S. Tax Court and Abbott and the IRS are in active discussions. A $413 million Malaysian assessment for 2023 was upheld by the Penang High Court in October 2025 and is on appeal. U.S. federal returns through 2016 are settled. On January 5, 2026, the OECD released administrative guidance that, when enacted, exempts U.S.-parented groups from the Pillar 2 minimum tax.

Cash and capital. Net cash from operating activities was $9.6 billion (2024: $8.6 billion; 2023: $7.3 billion). Capital expenditures were $2.2 billion in each of the three years. Cash and cash equivalents plus short-term investments totaled $8.9 billion at December 31, 2025 (2024: $8.0 billion); cash and equivalents alone rose to $8.5 billion from $7.6 billion. Long-term debt was $12.9 billion, of which approximately $3.0 billion matures in 2026; the long-term debt rating was AA- from S&P and Aa3 from Moody's. Goodwill was $24.0 billion and net intangible assets $5.5 billion, with no goodwill impairment. Working capital was $9.5 billion, unchanged from 2024. Abbott repurchased 4.8 million shares for $604 million in 2025, leaving $6.7 billion available under the October 2024 $7 billion authorization, and declared dividends of $2.40 per share (2024: $2.24), a 7.1 percent increase; dividends paid were $4.1 billion. In December 2025 the quarterly dividend was raised 6.8 percent to $0.63 from $0.59, effective with the February 2026 payment. Abbott expects to contribute approximately $85 million to its pension plans in 2026 and targets R&D spending at approximately 7 percent of total sales in 2026.

2026 priorities as stated by management. Drive Alinity diagnostic instrument sales, expanded menus and GLP track integration plus rapid testing and digital health; grow recently launched medical devices and expand market position; introduce nutrition products adapted to evolving consumer preferences; and deepen the established pharmaceuticals portfolio in emerging markets, including biosimilars.

Current quarter, second quarter and first half of 2026

From the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, accession 0001628280-26-050134, and the second-quarter results news release furnished on Form 8-K dated July 16, 2026, accession 0001628280-26-048377.

The Exact Sciences acquisition closed and reshaped Diagnostics. On March 23, 2026, Abbott completed the acquisition of Exact Sciences Corporation for approximately $20.6 billion, paying $105 per common share in cash. It was funded primarily through $20.0 billion of long-term debt issued in March 2026, senior notes due 2029 (both fixed-rate and SOFR+50bp), 2031, 2033, 2036, 2038, 2056 and 2066, with the remainder from cash on hand. Abbott assumed approximately $2.8 billion of Exact Sciences' debt, nearly all of which had been repaid by June 30, 2026. The acquisition establishes Abbott's position in cancer diagnostics and adds Cologuard, Oncotype DX and Cancerguard. Exact Sciences' results are reported inside the Diagnostic Products segment as a new Cancer Diagnostics business from the acquisition date, contributing approximately $1.0 billion of net sales in the first six months of 2026; its earnings since acquisition are not material to consolidated net earnings. Goodwill and the gross amount of amortizable intangible assets both increased on completion, and indefinite-lived IPR&D rose; the purchase price allocation is preliminary and could change materially. Abbott also reorganized reporting in 2026: the previously separate Rapid Diagnostics, Molecular Diagnostics and Point of Care businesses were aggregated into Rapid and Molecular Diagnostics, and the Amplatzer Amulet occluder moved from Structural Heart to Electrophysiology on January 1, 2026 (reclassifying $55 million of second-quarter 2025 and $101 million of first-half 2025 sales).

Results. Second-quarter net sales were $12.593 billion, up 13.0 percent reported, 12.2 percent excluding foreign exchange, and 4.8 percent on the comparable basis management uses (which includes prior- and current-year Exact Sciences sales and excludes currency and Structural Heart competitor compensation payments). First-half net sales were $23.757 billion, up 10.5 percent reported, 8.2 percent ex-currency and 4.3 percent comparable. A weaker dollar added 1.3 percent to international and 0.8 percent to total sales in the quarter, and 3.8 percent and 2.3 percent respectively in the half.

By segment in the quarter: Diagnostics $3.092 billion, +42.3 percent reported but +2.9 percent comparable, with Cancer Diagnostics at $919 million driven by mid-teens Cologuard growth, Core Laboratory +4.4 percent on U.S. and Latin America strength, and Rapid and Molecular Diagnostics −7.3 percent on a weaker respiratory virus season. Medical Devices $5.853 billion, +9.0 percent reported and +8.4 percent comparable, led by low-teens Electrophysiology growth and high-single-digit growth in Rhythm Management, Diabetes Care and Heart Failure; CGM sales grew 11.0 percent reported. Established Pharmaceuticals $1.499 billion, +8.4 percent reported and +8.7 percent comparable, with Key Emerging Markets +10.7 percent comparable. Nutrition $2.144 billion, −3.1 percent reported and −3.6 percent comparable, on lower volumes and fourth-quarter-2025 strategic pricing actions, though sales rose $127 million sequentially from the first quarter. For the first six months, Medical Devices grew 8.0 percent ex-currency (Rhythm Management +10.9 percent, Electrophysiology +13.0 percent, Heart Failure +10.4 percent, Vascular +5.0 percent, Diabetes Care +8.2 percent with CGM sales of $4.1 billion against $3.6 billion), Diagnostics grew 22.4 percent ex-currency (Core Laboratory +3.2 percent, Rapid and Molecular −8.8 percent), Established Pharmaceuticals grew 8.9 percent, and Nutrition fell 5.6 percent.

The acquisition dominates the profit and loss. Gross margin was 52.5 percent in both the quarter and the half, against 52.7 percent in each 2025 period, as higher Exact Sciences intangible amortization and higher costs offset favorable mix, margin initiatives and currency. Amortization of intangibles rose to $658 million in the quarter from $420 million. R&D rose $167 million, or 22.9 percent, to $892 million in the quarter and $218 million, or 15.1 percent, to $1.7 billion in the half. SG&A rose $934 million, or 30.3 percent, to $4.025 billion in the quarter and $1.6 billion, or 26.2 percent, to $7.8 billion in the half, on the addition of Exact Sciences and integration expense, higher legal reserves, more selling and marketing spend and unfavorable currency. Operating earnings fell 17.5 percent to $1.693 billion in the quarter and to $3.038 billion in the half. Net interest expense rose $249 million to $299 million in the quarter and $268 million to $367 million in the half, on the acquisition debt, partly offset by prior-year repayments and interest income on the bond proceeds during the first quarter. Other income was $134 million in the quarter (2025: $137 million) and $293 million in the half (2025: $264 million). Tax on earnings was $596 million in the quarter against pre-tax earnings of $1.524 billion; first-half tax included approximately $440 million of expense tied to a prior-year non-cash deferred tax benefit (2025: $300 million) and $18 million of excess share-based compensation benefits (2025: $84 million). Net earnings were $928 million in the quarter, down from $1.779 billion, and $2.005 billion in the half, down from $3.104 billion; diluted EPS was $0.53 against $1.01 in the quarter and $1.14 against $1.77 in the half. Abbott's news release put adjusted diluted EPS, which excludes intangible amortization, acquisition-related expenses, legal reserves, accelerated stock compensation from the acquisition, restructuring, certain regulatory costs, the deferred tax adjustment and other specified items, at $1.31 for the quarter, with net earnings excluding specified items of $2.290 billion against $2.213 billion a year earlier.

Liquidity. Cash and cash equivalents fell to $5.1 billion at June 30, 2026 from $8.5 billion at December 31, 2025, reflecting the cash portion of the acquisition and repayment of the $2.8 billion of assumed debt, plus dividends, buybacks and capital expenditure, partly offset by operations. Working capital fell to $6.7 billion from $9.5 billion. Net cash from operating activities in the first six months of 2026 was $3.8 billion, $339 million more than the prior-year period, helped by favorable trade receivable movement, lower pension contributions and lower cash taxes ($856 million paid in 2026, against $945 million of taxes and $246 million of pension contributions in 2025), partly offset by cash paid to settle equity awards in the acquisition. Abbott repurchased approximately 11.6 million shares for $1.0 billion in the first half, leaving $5.6 billion available under the October 2024 authorization, and declared a $0.63 quarterly dividend in each of the first two quarters, 6.8 percent above the $0.59 declared in each of the first two quarters of 2025, the June 12, 2026 declaration was Abbott's 410th consecutive quarterly dividend, and the company has increased its payout for 54 consecutive years. The long-term debt rating at June 30, 2026 was A+ from S&P Global Ratings and Aa3 from Moody's, against AA- and Aa3 at December 31, 2025; Abbott expects to maintain an investment grade rating. Interest rate hedge notional rose on the new fixed-rate acquisition debt.

Guidance. In the July 16, 2026 release Abbott reaffirmed full-year 2026 comparable sales growth guidance of 6.5 to 7.5 percent and raised full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $5.45 to $5.60 from a prior range of $5.38 to $5.58. Third-quarter 2026 adjusted diluted EPS is projected at $1.38 to $1.46. Abbott does not provide the corresponding forward-looking GAAP measures, citing inability to predict restructuring, impairments, acquisition-related expense and currency. Management's stated expectation is for accelerating sales and earnings growth in the second half of the year.

Pipeline and regulatory events in the quarter. Abbott completed enrollment in the TECTONIC U.S. pivotal trial of its investigational Coronary Intravascular Lithotripsy system in April; presented late-breaking data from four trials across its pulsed field ablation and conduction system pacing portfolios at the Heart Rhythm Society conference in April; secured CE Mark in May for Libre Duo, a dual glucose-ketone biowearable sensor; completed its FDA submission in May for the Amulet 360 left atrial appendage device; and in May the American Cancer Society reaffirmed Cologuard and Cologuard Plus as preferred colorectal cancer screening options for average-risk adults aged 45 and over.

Litigation developments. In May 2026 the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the $495 million Gill NEC verdict; Abbott sought review from the Supreme Court of Missouri. In June 2026 the court granted final approval of the settlement of the consolidated infant formula shareholder derivative litigation. At June 30, 2026 Abbott's recorded accrual for legal proceedings and environmental exposures was approximately $510 million, within an estimated range of possible loss of approximately $120 million to $530 million, up from approximately $175 million accrued at December 31, 2025 within a $170–$180 million range. No reserve had been recorded for the NEC matters themselves, which Abbott said it could not reasonably estimate and whose resolution could be material to its financial position, cash flows or results of operations.

Subsequent events

The June 30, 2026 Form 10-Q (accession 0001628280-26-050134) contains no subsequent-events note; its notes end at Note 15, Segment Information. The material post-period development Abbott has disclosed is the partial settlement of the preterm infant formula litigation:

• NEC litigation settlements, approximately $670 million (announced August 20, 2026; Form 8-K accession 0001104659-26-099247). Rather than continue to appeal the Gill verdict or pay approximately $600 million, the judgment plus accrued interest to that date, Abbott entered into agreements with three law firms to resolve the Gill case together with NEC claims asserted on behalf of approximately 2,000 additional infants, for an aggregate of approximately $670 million. Abbott characterized the agreements as a compromise of disputed claims and not an admission of liability, and stated it stands by the safety of the products. Following the agreements, approximately 1,700 lawsuits remained pending in federal and state courts involving claims on behalf of approximately 12,700 individual infants, a population Abbott says includes claims naming both Abbott and Mead Johnson without identifying whose formula was administered, individuals diagnosed with NEC before receiving any formula, individuals never diagnosed with NEC, and individuals appearing in multiple lawsuits in different jurisdictions. Abbott noted a preceding run of favorable rulings: the Seventh Circuit affirmed a pretrial judgment for Abbott in the first federal MDL bellwether case in July 2026; the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a $60 million verdict against Mead Johnson in June 2026 on learned intermediary grounds; and a Florida state court dismissed preterm formula claims on the same doctrine in March 2026.

No acquisition, divestiture, financing or borrowing after June 30, 2026 is disclosed in these filings.

Filings that contain financial statements

The following Form 8-Ks furnish Abbott's quarterly earnings press release as Exhibit 99.1, and each one contains a full condensed consolidated statement of earnings (with a GAAP-to-adjusted reconciliation) for the period named:

• Accession 0001628280-26-048377 (filed July 16, 2026), second-quarter and first-half 2026 results (period ended June 30, 2026), with GAAP and non-GAAP income statements and segment sales tables.
• Accession 0001628280-26-025365 (filed April 16, 2026), first-quarter 2026 results (period ended March 31, 2026), with GAAP and non-GAAP income statements and segment sales tables.
• Accession 0001628280-26-002982 (filed January 22, 2026), fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results (period ended December 31, 2025), with GAAP and non-GAAP income statements, segment sales tables, and 2026 financial guidance.
• Accession 0001628280-25-045049 (filed October 15, 2025), third-quarter 2025 results (period ended September 30, 2025), furnished in the same recurring earnings-release format.
• Accession 0001628280-25-035135 (filed July 17, 2025), second-quarter 2025 results (period ended June 30, 2025), furnished in the same recurring earnings-release format.

Second-quarter 2026 earnings and guidance

On July 16, 2026, Abbott reported second-quarter 2026 net sales of $12.593 billion, up 13.0 percent on a reported basis and 4.8 percent on a comparable basis, with GAAP diluted EPS of $0.53 and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.31. Abbott reaffirmed full-year 2026 comparable sales growth guidance of 6.5% to 7.5% and raised its full-year 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $5.45–$5.60, up from a prior range of $5.38–$5.58. The company also said it returned $2.1 billion to shareholders in the quarter through dividends and share repurchases. (Accession 0001628280-26-048377.)

First-quarter 2026 earnings and updated guidance for the Exact Sciences acquisition

On April 16, 2026, Abbott reported first-quarter 2026 net sales of $11.164 billion, up 7.8 percent on a reported basis and 3.7 percent on a comparable basis, with GAAP diluted EPS of $0.61 and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.15. Abbott updated its full-year 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $5.38–$5.58, which it said includes $0.20 of dilution related to the newly closed Exact Sciences acquisition, while reaffirming full-year comparable sales growth guidance of 6.5% to 7.5%. (Accession 0001628280-26-025365.)

Fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings; initial 2026 guidance

On January 22, 2026, Abbott reported fourth-quarter 2025 sales of $11.459 billion, up 4.4 percent on a reported basis, with GAAP diluted EPS of $1.01 and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.50. Full-year 2025 sales were $44.328 billion, up 5.7 percent, with GAAP diluted EPS of $3.72 and adjusted diluted EPS of $5.15. Abbott issued initial full-year 2026 guidance of 6.5%–7.5% organic sales growth and adjusted diluted EPS of $5.55–$5.80. The release also reconfirmed that the pending Exact Sciences acquisition was expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. (Accession 0001628280-26-002982.)

Acquisition of Exact Sciences: signing, financing, and closing

• November 19–20, 2025, Merger agreement signed. Abbott entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Exact Sciences Corporation and its merger subsidiary, Badger Merger Sub I, Inc., under which each Exact Sciences share would convert into the right to receive $105.00 in cash. Abbott also entered into a $20 billion senior unsecured bridge loan commitment letter with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding to help finance the deal. (Accession 0001104659-25-114422; Exhibit 2.1 is the merger agreement.)
• February 23, 2026, Notes pricing agreement. Abbott priced $20 billion of senior notes across eight tranches (floating-rate and fixed-rate notes maturing 2029–2066), intended to help fund the Exact Sciences acquisition consideration and repay Exact Sciences debt. (Accession 0001104659-26-020509.)
• March 9, 2026, Notes offering completed. Abbott completed the $20 billion notes offering. The notes carry a special mandatory redemption at 101% of principal plus accrued interest if the Exact Sciences acquisition is not completed by the applicable outside date or if Abbott abandons the deal. (Accession 0001104659-26-025240.)
• March 23, 2026, Acquisition completed. Abbott completed the acquisition of Exact Sciences; Merger Sub merged into Exact Sciences, which became a direct, wholly owned Abbott subsidiary, with each Exact Sciences share converted into $105.00 in cash. The closing established Abbott's Cancer Diagnostics business and made Exact Sciences' historical results part of Abbott's comparable-sales base going forward. (Accession 0001104659-26-033079.)

Litigation: preterm infant formula (NEC) claims

• April 10, 2026, Derivative litigation settlement approved. In the consolidated shareholder derivative proceeding In re Abbott Laboratories Infant Formula Shareholder Derivative Litigation, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois preliminarily approved a proposed settlement and scheduled a final settlement hearing. (Accession 0001104659-26-044892.)
• August 20, 2026, Settlement of Gill verdict and related claims. After the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed a $495 million jury verdict against Abbott in the Gill case (originally awarded July 2024), Abbott chose to settle rather than continue appealing or pay the roughly $600 million judgment plus interest. Abbott entered agreements resolving the Gill case and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) claims on behalf of approximately 2,000 additional infants, for an aggregate of approximately $670 million. Abbott said the settlement follows a string of favorable rulings for preterm-formula manufacturers, including a Seventh Circuit affirmance of a pretrial judgment for Abbott in a federal MDL bellwether case. After the settlement, Abbott said roughly 1,700 lawsuits covering about 12,700 individual infants remained pending; Abbott stated the settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and not an admission of liability, and that it continues to stand by the safety of its preterm infant formula products. (Accession 0001104659-26-099247.)

Capital return

Abbott has continued its long-running dividend program throughout the period: a $0.63 per share quarterly dividend was declared in December 2025 (408th consecutive quarterly dividend, payable February 2026), February 2026 (409th, payable May 2026), and June 2026 (410th, payable August 2026). Abbott says it has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years and is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index. (Accessions 0001628280-26-002982, 0001628280-26-025365, 0001628280-26-048377.)

Governance and administrative matters

• December 12, 2025, Nita Ahuja, M.D. was named to Abbott's board of directors; the board expanded to thirteen members effective that date. (Accession 0001104659-25-120657.)
• February 20, 2026, The board amended Abbott's by-laws to reduce the board to twelve members, effective April 24, 2026. (Accession 0001104659-26-018167.)
• April 24, 2026, Annual meeting. Shareholders elected Abbott's full slate of twelve director nominees, ratified Ernst & Young LLP as auditor, approved (on an advisory basis) named-executive-officer compensation, and approved the new 2026 Incentive Stock Program and the 2026 Employee Stock Purchase Plan for Non-U.S. Employees. The same day, the board named Kevin Conroy to the board and amended the by-laws to expand the board from twelve to thirteen members. (Accession 0001104659-26-049434.)
• November 18–21, 2025, Abbott disclosed a blackout period under its U.S. and Puerto Rico employee stock retirement plans (recordkeeper, trustee, and custodian changes), running from approximately December 24, 2025 through the week of January 11, 2026, during which plan participants could not trade in their plan accounts. (Accession 0001104659-25-114995.)

Abbott's other 8-K filings in this period (routine debt-indenture officers' certificates, legal opinions, and cover-page-only filings) did not disclose additional information beyond what is summarized above.

About this file

ABT annual income statement, balance sheet and cash flow

Taken from the SEC filings and normalized to actual dollars.

ABT quarterly income statement, balance sheet and cash flow

Taken from the SEC filings and normalized to actual dollars.

ABT year-to-date income statement and cash flow

Taken from the SEC filings and normalized to actual dollars.

ABT trailing twelve month income statement and cash flow

Derived by AI from the figures the filings report. No filing prints these, so none of them is linked.

• Source form. derived from the 10-Q filed 2026-07-28 and the 10-K filed 2026-02-20

Adjustments

Notes

• Annual figures for 2025, 2024 and 2023 come from Abbott's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 (accession 0001628280-26-010185). That filing's statement of earnings and statement of cash flows each present three years; the balance sheet presents only December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024. FY2023 therefore carries an income statement and a cash flow statement here but no balance sheet.
• Quarterly, six-month and June 30, 2026 balance sheet figures come from Abbott's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (accession 0001628280-26-050134). The quarterly list holds only the two discrete three-month periods that filing prints (the second quarter of 2026 and the second quarter of 2025); its six-month columns are kept separately under year_to_date so a cumulative figure is never read as a quarter. The 10-Q presents a balance sheet only at June 30, 2026 (with December 31, 2025 as the comparative), so the second quarter of 2025 carries no balance sheet.
• Abbott reports cost of products sold EXCLUDING amortization of intangible assets, and presents no gross profit subtotal. None is stated here; the two cost lines are carried separately, exactly as the statements print them.
• Abbott presents interest expense, interest (income), net foreign exchange (gain) loss and other (income) expense, net as deductions inside the expense stack below operating earnings, printing income amounts in parentheses. Those lines are carried here on that same basis, so a negative value denotes income: interest_income of -$308 million for fiscal 2025 and -$52 million for the second quarter of 2026 each mean interest INCOME of that amount, not a loss. Keeping the filing's signs is what lets operating earnings less these four lines reconcile to earnings before taxes in every period shown.
• Abbott's balance sheet prints no total liabilities line. The total liabilities figure here is the sum of total current liabilities, long-term debt, and post-employment obligations, deferred income taxes and other long-term liabilities; it ties to total assets less total shareholders' investment in each period shown. Total debt is the current portion of long-term debt plus long-term debt, as printed on the balance sheet.
• Abbott publishes no free cash flow figure. Free cash flow here is net cash from operating activities less acquisitions of property and equipment, which is the only capital expenditure line the cash flow statements show.
• The 10-Q's cash flow statement is presented for the six months ended June 30 only, and Abbott's second-quarter earnings release contains no cash flow statement. No discrete three-month cash flow is published, so neither quarterly entry carries a cash flow block; the six-month cash flows sit under year_to_date.
• The trailing-twelve-month view is derived, not filed: fiscal 2025 plus the six months ended June 30, 2026, less the six months ended June 30, 2025. Its diluted EPS is trailing net earnings divided by an implied trailing weighted average diluted share count of about 1,746.0 million, rolled forward the same way. Abbott does not publish either figure.
• On March 23, 2026, Abbott completed the acquisition of Exact Sciences Corporation for approximately $20.6 billion, paying $105 per share in cash, funded primarily by $20.0 billion of long-term debt issued in March 2026. The purchase price allocation is preliminary. This is what moves the June 30, 2026 balance sheet against December 31, 2025: goodwill from $24.0 billion to $35.2 billion, intangible assets from $5.5 billion to $17.2 billion and long-term debt from $9.9 billion to $29.6 billion, with $19,962 million of acquisitions of businesses and technologies in investing activities for the six months. Abbott also assumed about $2.8 billion of Exact Sciences debt, nearly all repaid by June 30, 2026. Exact Sciences contributed roughly $1.0 billion of net sales in the first six months of 2026 and is reported inside the Diagnostic Products segment as Cancer Diagnostics.
• Second-quarter 2026 net sales rose 13.0 percent from a year earlier while net earnings fell to $928 million from $1,779 million. On the face of the statement of earnings the cost lines that moved most were amortization of intangible assets ($658 million against $420 million), selling, general and administrative expense ($4,025 million against $3,091 million) and interest expense ($351 million against $121 million). The 10-Q attributes the rise in interest expense primarily to interest on debt incurred for the Exact Sciences acquisition.
• Fiscal 2024's taxes on earnings is a net BENEFIT of $6,389 million rather than an expense, which is why FY2024 net earnings of $13,402 million exceed pre-tax earnings of $7,013 million. The 10-K attributes this to $7.5 billion of non-cash valuation allowance adjustments following the restructuring of certain foreign affiliates and the confirmation of certain tax filing positions. FY2024 net earnings and EPS are not comparable with FY2023 or FY2025 on that basis.
• Segment figures are prepared on Abbott's internal management-reporting basis and are explicitly not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Segment operating earnings exclude intangible asset amortization, corporate functions and benefit costs, net interest, share-based compensation and other net items, so they do not sum to consolidated operating earnings. Reportable-segment net sales also exclude a small 'Other' amount ($17 million in 2025; $5 million in the second quarter of 2026), so the segment total sits just below consolidated net sales.
• Share counts are recorded in actual shares. The 10-K's statement of earnings states shares in millions and the 10-Q's states them in thousands; both were converted here.
• No stock split, currency conversion or ADS adjustment applies. Abbott has not split its common stock in the years covered here, reports in U.S. dollars, and is a domestic filer whose common shares trade directly.

Uncertainties

• No discrete three-month cash flow figure exists for either quarter shown. Abbott's 10-Q presents cash flows cumulatively for the six months, and the second-quarter earnings release furnished on Form 8-K contains no cash flow statement. A quarterly operating or free cash flow figure could not be read from any filing and is therefore absent rather than estimated.
• The Exact Sciences purchase price allocation is described in the 10-Q as preliminary, and the filing states that differences between the preliminary and final allocation could be material. The goodwill, intangible assets and deferred tax amounts on the June 30, 2026 balance sheet may change as the valuation is completed, which would also change future amortization.
• The trailing-twelve-month block is a roll-forward, not a reported period. Its diluted EPS in particular rests on an implied weighted average share count rather than one Abbott published, and small differences from a figure computed a different way should be expected.
• The June 30, 2026 balance sheet and all 2026 quarterly figures are unaudited and condensed, as the 10-Q states.

Company details

Fiscal period

Source filings