(Reuters) -Abbott Laboratories maintained its annual profit forecast on Wednesday and announced $500 million in investments towards U.S. manufacturing and research in the face of tariff-induced uncertainty.
The company, which makes nutritional products and medical devices such as glucose monitors, has operations in several international markets, including China. According to its latest annual filing, Abbott has 89 manufacturing facilities around the world.
It is the second major medical device maker after Johnson & Johnson to report first-quarter earnings after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed duties on trade partners.
Trump has been particularly focused on China, ratcheting up tariffs to eye-watering levels on a country that is a key source of raw materials for the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.
His administration has also started a probe into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs on both sectors.
The company said the manufacturing and research and development projects in Illinois and Texas are expected to go live by the end of the year.
Abbott maintained its full-year profit forecast of $5.05 to $5.25 per share even as its first-quarter earnings edged past Wall Street estimates, helped by strong demand for its glucose monitors and other devices.
Sales of continuous glucose monitors were $1.7 billion, up 18.3% from a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company’s quarterly profit of $1.09 per share beat analysts’ average expectations of $1.07 per share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
