Results included a $26 million pretax gain related to the repurchase of debt, as well as $14 million in pretax impairment losses on certain mortgage-backed securities and $59 million in pretax severance-related charges.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 15 cents per share on revenue of $1.07 billion.

Shares closed up 8.5% to $17.75. They are still 10.7% lower than a year ago.

For the quarter ended March 31, North Chicago-based Abbott Labs said it earned $1.44 billion, or 92 cents per share, compared to $988 million, or 60 cents per share, a year ago. However, the company's revenue slipped about 1% to $6.72 billion due to unfavorable currency exchange rates and economic conditions that resulted in a drop in spending on drugs.

While Abbott Labs earnings benefited from the breakup of a partnership with Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals, revenue was hurt by lower-than-expected sales of its best-selling drug Humira. Excluding charges, Abbott Labs earned 73 cents per share. Analysts had expected a 70 cents per-share profit on sales of $7.06 billion.

Abbott reaffirmed its full-year profit forecast of $3.65 to $3.70 per share and said it expects to earn 87 to 89 cents per share in the second quarter, excluding one-time items. This is in line with Wall Street expectations.

Abbott shares fell $2.10, or 4.7%, to close Wednesday at $42.61, near its 52-week low.

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