Abbott Stock Fell the Most in 23 Years After Earnings. The CEO Bought $2 Million of Shares.
- Abbott Laboratories’ shares experienced their largest decline in over two decades, dropping 10% following its fourth-quarter earnings report.
- CEO Robert Ford purchased 18,800 shares for approximately $2 million.
- Abbott’s nutrition unit, including Similac and Ensure, significantly affected results, as price increases constrained sales volume growth.
Shares of Abbott Laboratories suffered their worst drop in more than 20 years following Abbott’s fourth-quarter earnings report. The company’s chief executive remains a believer in the stock.
A Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week shows CEO Robert Ford bought 18,800 shares for roughly $107.13 each, or $2 million in total, on Friday.
The shares are held in a family trust, of which Ford is a co-trustee, meaning he counts them among 216,203 shares he owns indirectly. Ford owns an additional 253,305 shares directly.
“Mr. Ford’s purchase reflects his confidence in the company’s long‑term strategy and growth trajectory,” Abbott spokesperson Scott Stoffel told Barron’s.
The purchase was Ford’s first in nearly a year. The last time the CEO bought Abbott stock was in March, when he snapped up 31,651 shares for around $4.3 million. A separate securities filing shows he held those shares directly.
Ford’s latest transaction comes on the heels of Abbott’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which triggered a double-digit percentage decline in the stock. Shares fell 10% on Thursday, marking their worst drop since June 11, 2002, when they plunged 16%.
Adjusted earnings beat analysts’ forecasts by a penny, while sales came to $11.5 billion, missing the $11.8 billion consensus estimate. Quarterly performance was mixed across business lines.
The biggest drag on results was Abbott’s nutrition unit, which includes Similac baby formula and Ensure-branded meal supplements. For the past several quarters, the business has struggled despite Abbott’s efforts to offset higher manufacturing costs by raising prices.
In the current environment for consumer spending, the price hikes appear to have constrained sales volume growth, Ford said. Many consumer-goods businesses are facing the same problem, he said.
He struck an upbeat tone on the earnings call, saying Abbott was well-positioned for accelerating growth in 2026. “While we know we’ve got some work to do in nutrition, I can guarantee you that we’re not distracted by that,” Ford said.