Should You Buy Abbott Laboratories (ABT)?

Given that Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) doesn’t rely heavily on sales of medical devices, the topic of Obamacare was hardly touched upon in the earnings call.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported its results on Tuesday. Their management commented on how the newly introduced tax will affect the company’s bottom-line. The management stated that the implementation of this excise tax will lead to a decline of $0.05 in EPS which will be recorded over the next twelve months. This comment will definitely help Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s investors to understand the impact of this tax on the future of the company.

Another growing company that will be affected by this regulation will be Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT). The global leader in spinal implants has been displaying revenue growth for the last 10 years. The company has also been consistently improving its margins .The company announced in its last earning release in Feb that it had experienced growth in all of its segments (domestic, international and emerging markets), which truly reflects its bright future prospects. The company’s next earnings release is expected on May 21.

Foolish Bottom Line

Right now, the outlook of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) looks mixed. Where its Vascular segment is not presenting a good picture, the Nutritionals seem to be the bright spot at the company. Many of the analysts have turned bullish on the stock since its spinoff of AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV), its former research pharmaceutical wing, as this spinoff has helped the company to get rid of the patent-cliff headaches from rivals like Merck & Co., Inc (NYSE:MRK).

Overall, given the mixed outlook for the stock, I suggest investors hold it.

The article Should You Buy Abbott Labs? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Zain Abbas.

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