By Peter Loftus

Abbott Laboratories stock fell Thursday after the medical-products maker reporting disappointing results, hit by a slump in the division that makes baby formula and nutrition shakes.

Fourth-quarter sales in the nutrition business, which includes Similac baby formula and Ensure drinks, dropped 8.9% from a year earlier. Abbott chalked the decline up to lower sales volumes, coupled with price cuts aimed at boosting demand.

"Obviously, there were challenges," the company's chief executive, Robert Ford, told analysts on a conference call.

The drop in nutrition sales partly offset growth in medical devices and generic drugs.

-- Adjusted earnings of $1.50 a share missed the $1.63 mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Factset.

-- Abbott's $11.46 billion in sales fell short of the $12.78 billion Factset estimate.

-- Abbott also predicted full-year 2026 earnings that bracketed analysts' consensus estimates, leaving room for the possibility of falling short.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2026 10:22 ET (15:22 GMT)

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