Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday (Oct 18) tightened its profit forecast for the year after beating estimates for third-quarter earnings on strong demand for its medical devices and diagnostics products.

The company is seeing a recovery in sales of its medical devices such as heart valve devices and pacemakers as more older people opt for surgeries that were put off due to the pandemic.

Abbott posted a near 17 per cent rise in quarterly sales of its medical devices to US$4.25 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of US$4.16 billion.

Its continuous-glucose-monitoring (CGM) device, Freestyle Libre, brought in sales of about US$1.4 billion, compared with US$1.3 billion in the second quarter.

Sales of those devices are expected to come under pressure, with the growing popularity of new diabetes drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.

Abbott, however, has tried to allay those concerns by saying it could be a “complementary relationship” between the two.

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On an adjusted basis, the company now expects annual profit of US$4.42 to US$4.46 per share, compared with its previous forecast of US$4.30-US$4.50 per share.

Excluding items, Abbott earned US$1.14 per share, above analysts’ estimates of US$1.10 per share, according to LSEG data. REUTERS