 "Abbott beats quarterly profit estimates on demand for medical devices")
Abbott Laboratories on Thursday reported second-quarter profit above expectations, due to recovery in surgical procedure volumes and demand for its diabetes care devices.
Demand for medical devices is expected to rise this year, tracking a recovery in non-urgent surgical procedures across the U.S., as older adults in particular get more comfortable visiting hospitals and staffing shortages at those facilities ease.
Rival J&J's medical device segment also topped estimates earlier in the day, helped by a recovery in demand for medical procedures which were delayed during the pandemic.
Abbott clocked quarterly sales for its medical devices at $4.3 billion, with $1.3 billion coming from continuous-glucose-monitoring device Freestyle Libre, beating analysts' estimates of $4.10 billion.
Abbott's diagnostic sales came in at $2.3 billion in the quarter, in line with analysts' average estimates.
The company saw a further decline in COVID-19 test kits sales after U.S. government ended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11.
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The company cut its annual COVID-related sales forecast to $1.3 billion, from $1.5 billion previously.
However, the medical device maker retained its annual profit of $4.30 to $4.50 per share, indicating an increase in its outlook for its non-COVID businesses.
Excluding items, Abbott earned $1.08 per share in second quarter, above Refinitiv IBES estimates of $1.05 per share.
(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)