The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

ABT is now higher than 12 months ago and not all that far from its January 2020 top. Nice recovery.

ABT’s rapid point-of-care test for COVID-19—and Trump’s effusive praise of the test—put ABT’s name out there for many investors who probably hadn’t heard of it.

In terms of fundamentals, however, ABT’s near-term prospects are pretty dim. In 2019, almost 40% of ABT’s sales came from medical devices (#msg-153423304), and sales in this segment are going to remain soft until elective surgeries make a comeback. There will be some growth in ABT’s diagnostics segment (~25% of 2019 sales), but the higher profit from diagnostics will be outweighed by the lower profit from medical devices.

ABT reports 1Q20 financials on Apr 16.