Section 1: Company Fundamentals

1.1 Company Overview and Performance summary

Company Overview:

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is a global healthcare company. The Company’s portfolio of technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritional and branded generic medicines. Its segments include Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices.

This US Inflation Report covers the Company Overview & Price performance, Summary table, Key positives & negatives, Key metrics, Company details, technical guidance & Stock recommendation, and Price chart.

Price Performance:

• ABT's share price has corrected by 12.42% in the past three months. Similarly, in the long term, the stock has corrected by 5.30% over the YTD basis.
• The stock is currently trading near to the lower end of its 52-week range of USD 64 and 52-week low price of USD 89.67, with the expectations of an upside movement from the current support levels.
• The price is currently below both the short-term (50-day) SMA and long-term (200-day) SMA, with the current RSI of around 40.64.

1.2 Summary Table

1.3 The Key Positives & Negatives

1.4 Key Metrics

Abbott significantly outperforms industry medians across several key profitability metrics. Its EBITDA margin of 22.2% surpasses the industry median of 16%, while its operating margin of 13.9% exceeds the industry median of 8.2%. Abbott's pretax margin stands at 14.4%, compared to the industry's 3.3%, and its net margin is 12.3%, far above the industry median of 3.0%. Additionally, Abbott's return on equity (ROE) in the first quarter of 2024 is 3.2%, significantly higher than the industry median of 0.4%, highlighting its effective use of shareholders' equity to generate profit.

Section 2: Abbott laboratories (“Buy” at the closing market price of USD 104.23, as of May 23, 2024)

2.1 Company Details

2.2 Technical Guidance and Stock Recommendation  

Markets are trading in a highly volatile zone currently due to certain macroeconomic issues and geopolitical tensions prevailing. Therefore, it is prudent to follow a cautious approach while investing.

Note 1: Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Note 2: The reference date for all price data, currency, technical indicators, support, and resistance levels is May 23, 2024. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV.

Note 3: Investment decisions should be made depending on an individual's appetite for upside potential, risks, holding duration, and any previous holdings. An 'Exit' from the stock can be considered if the Target Price mentioned as per the Valuation and or the technical levels provided has been achieved and is subject to the factors discussed above.

Note 4: The report publishing date is as per the Pacific Time Zone.

Technical Indicators Defined: -

Support: A level at which the stock prices tend to find support if they are falling, and a downtrend may take a pause backed by demand or buying interest. Support 1 refers to the nearby support level for the stock and if the price breaches the level, then Support 2 may act as the crucial support level for the stock.

 Resistance: A level at which the stocks prices tend to find resistance when they are rising, and an uptrend may take a pause due to profit booking or selling interest. Resistance 1 refers to the nearby resistance level for the stock and if the price surpasses the level, then Resistance 2 may act as the crucial resistance level for the stock.

 Stop-loss: It is a level to protect against further losses in case of unfavorable movement in the stock prices.