Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), the broad-based health care company that produces both Humira and Similac, is scheduled to discuss its third quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Wednesday at 9:00 AM ET. You can catch the live webcast on the company's website.
During the three months that ended in September, Abbott Labs announced acquisitions of Visiogen, Evalve, and Solvay pharmaceuticals, as well as declared its 343rd consecutive quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this suburban Chicago company to report that earnings rose 12.2% from a year ago to $0.90 per share. Sales for the quarter are expected to be 3.3% higher to $7.8 billion.
So far, the full-year forecast is for $3.69 per share (+10.0%) on $30.5 billion (+3.1%). Abbott's earnings have met or beat the Street view in the past five quarters.
The long-term EPS growth forecast is 10.5%, which is better than that of competitor Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), and the earnings multiple is 12x. The First Call consensus recommendation is to buy ABT. The Motley Fool called it an unbelievably solid company and a stock begging to be bought.
Abbott Labs shares have risen about 12% in the past three months, stalling around $50 for the past week or so, but they are still about 8% lower than a year ago.
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