Investopedia: Despite The Noise, Abbott Still A Value

Sometimes investors have to hold their noses a bit to take advantage of mispricings in the market. Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) is a good case in point; the company has changed its reporting by classifying its businesses into three meaningless categories, it makes rampant use of "one-time" charges, and the growth profile is heavily overweight to a small number of products. 


Still, cash flow is cash flow, and Abbott produces quite a lot of it, even though the Street does not seem all too willing to value it as highly as the cash flow from other medical technology names. (For more, see 5 Stocks With Solid Cash Flow.)

After Some Digging, a Solid Quarter
Abbott's first quarter results require a little digging and reinterpretation, but the numbers ultimately look pretty good. Reported revenue was up more than 17%, while organic revenue growth was more on the order of 5% to 6%. Growth was led again by the pharmaceutical business, which grew 24% this quarter. Vascular posted a decent result as well (up 13%), while diagnostics and nutrition both contributed high single-digit growth.

Likewise, the profitability side of the ledger was a bit murky, but the underlying results are solid. Gross profit improved more than a point from a year ago and would have been even better if not for the impact of foreign currency on the results. Moving along, Abbott continued its roughly eight-year tradition of "one time" items in the income statement, but operating income still grew around 13%. Stripping everything out and looking at a decidedly "home brew" organic EPS, Abbott's bottom line profitability increased at about the same rate as its organic sales - that is, mid-single-digits. 



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