Plenty of companies are reporting earnings this Wednesday morning, one of which is Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT).
The health-care giant reported third-quarter earnings of 95 cents per share, far better than last year's 69 cents per share. Taking items out of the equation, Abbott would have earned 92 cents per share, which is two cents better than the consensus estimate. Quarterly revenue matched the consensus estimate for $7.76 billion.
The company also upped its full-year 2009 forecast to a range of $3.70 to $3.72, up from a range of $3.65 to $3.70. The Street expects 2009 earnings of $3.69.
The solid results were driven by sales of Abbott's Humira, which is an injection for inflammatory disease. Humira sales were helped by sales of the company's medical and nutritional products for children. Nutritional sales increased 10% to $1.39 billion. These sales were strong enough to more than compensate for the weaker sales of other drugs the company manufactures.
Watch for the stock to challenge overhead resistance in the $52 region. The shares were turned away here last week, but it seems as if the equity's 10-month moving average is going to act as support. If this trendline can help push ABT higher, it could eventually break through the $52 region and then move to challenge the $55 level.
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