Abbott Laboratories $ABT ( ▼ 1.1% ) is getting punished in premarket after a quarter that was basically “fine,” but not fine enough for a market that wants clean beats.
The company reported Q4 sales that came in light, and then followed it up with Q1 guidance that missed expectations. That combo is usually all it takes for investors to hit sell.
The headline problem: Q1 guidance missed
Abbott guided to Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.12 to $1.18.
Wall Street was looking for $1.20.
Not a massive gap, but it signals softer near-term momentum, and that’s what traders care about.
Sales came in under expectations too
Abbott posted $11.5B in Q4 sales vs $11.8B expected.
The miss was mainly driven by weaker medical device sales, which matters because that’s Abbott’s biggest segment and usually the growth engine investors want to see firing.
What actually looked okay
Profit was not the issue.
Adjusted EPS came in at $1.50, right in line with expectations.
Full-year guidance also didn’t really freak anyone out, with Abbott projecting FY adjusted EPS of $5.55 to $5.80, roughly matching the Street’s $5.67.
Bottom line
Abbott didn’t blow up.
But it delivered the two things markets hate most in earnings season:
A revenue miss
A guidance miss
That’s why the stock is sliding hard premarket.