Thursday, June 10, 2021

As COVID-19 Enthusiasm Fades, Abbott Labs Worth Closer Watching

 

I wasn’t all that bullish on Abbott Labs (ABT) back in the summer of 2020, as although I view this as a very high-quality med-tech company, the valuation seemed too rich. Add in my concerns about COVID-19 testing contraction in 2021 and beyond (something I’ve mentioned in reference to Agilent (A), Hologic (HOLX), and Thermo Fisher (TMO) among others more recently), and I didn’t like the set-up for the shares.

Since then, the shares have risen about 12% - less than half the gain of the S&P 500 and about 700bp shy of the larger med-tech group. That’s not quite enough to put Abbott in my “unfairly cheap” bucket just yet, but the prospective long-term return is now closer to the high single-digits and that’s enough to get my interest. Add in M&A optionality, and this is definitely a name to watch, if not consider outright.

 

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As COVID-19 Enthusiasm Fades, Abbott Labs Worth Closer Watching

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