(Reuters) -Abbott Laboratories raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast after reporting a rise in quarterly profit, driven by strength in its mainstay businesses and a rebound in COVID-19 test sales due to the spread of the Delta variant.
The number of COVID-19 tests has reduced from the peak of the pandemic as more people get vaccinated in the United States, but their demand has increased in recent months as employers and schools implement screening programs.
The U.S. government has also announced policies aimed at pushing large employers to have their workers inoculated or tested weekly and has so far invested around $3 billion to procure rapid COVID-19 tests from Abbott and other manufacturers.
Third-quarter sales at Abbott’s diagnostics business grew 48.2% to $3.91 billion, with coronavirus test-related sales at $1.9 billion, up from $1.3 billion in the second quarter.
The company raised its outlook for 2021 adjusted earnings from continuing operations to between $5.00 and $5.10 per share, compared with its previous forecast of $4.30 to $4.50 per share.
Revenue for the third quarter rose to $10.9 billion from $8.85 billion.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)
