Abbott Beats Profit Forecast, But Sales Lag

Abbott Laboratories Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, but sales came in slightly below Wall Street expectations.

The company on Wednesday said it earned $375 million, or 24 cents per share in the first quarter. That compared with $544 million, or 34 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter, when Abbott took charges for licensing and acquisitions.

Excluding special charges, Abbott earned 41 cents per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting 36 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company said it could not immediately detail the reasons why it beat earnings forecasts in the quarter.

Global company sales fell 2.5 percent to $5.24 billion. Wall Street was expecting $5.28 billion.