Abbott Laboratories (ABT)<\/p>\n
The first company we\u2019ll look at, Abbott Laboratories, was founded in 1888 \u2013 and has built itself into a major player in the realm of medical devices and other health care products. The company has a diverse line of products, in such areas as pain and movement; diagnostic testing; cardiovascular health; nutrition; and diabetes. All of these fields \u2013 and more that Abbott Labs works in \u2013 have clear applications to the larger field of elder care.<\/p>\n
Two fields in particular draw attention when we look at Abbott. The company\u2019s FreeStyle Libre product is a leader in the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) market, a vital technology in controlling and managing diabetes. Abbott\u2019s product boasts that it is the leading CGM brand in the US. Abbott\u2019s cardiovascular products include devices to manage such conditions as heart failure, irregular heartbeat, and mitral regurgitation.<\/p>\n
Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are two of the leading causes of death, and Abbott\u2019s work has put smart, effective treatments on the market. The company is also known for such products as concussion assessment devices, important in the treatment of mild traumatic brain injuries, and its line of Ensure nutrition products. Like the company\u2019s diabetes and cardiovascular products, the Ensure nutrition supplements are widely used in elder care.<\/p>\n
Turning to the company\u2019s financial results, we find that Abbott\u2019s last report, covering 4Q25, showed weak top-line results, and the shares fell sharply after the release. Total sales came to $11.46 billion, and were up 4.4% year-over-year, but the figure missed the forecast by $342.9 million. Abbott\u2019s Medical Devices segment was the strongest sales driver, generating $5.675 billion in sales, for a 12.3% year-over-year gain. The nutrition segment led the losses, falling 8.9% from 4Q24 to land at $1.94 billion.<\/p>\n
At the bottom line, however, Abbott Labs\u2019 $1.50 non-GAAP EPS was up almost 12% from the prior-year period, and beat the estimates by a penny.<\/p>\n
While the market has punished the company for the weak topline result, UBS analyst Danielle Antalffy expects sales to pick up. She writes, \u201cWe expect ABT\u2019s growth to continue accelerating over the next few quarters and believe ABT is well positioned to benefit from an aging population. ABT\u2019s leading position in the CGM and cardiovascular markets enable it to both drive better health outcomes and benefit from an aging population. In addition, ABT\u2019s Nutritionals business should see demand increase from an aging population. We think an acceleration in growth combined with a potential resolution to ABT\u2019s infant formula litigation will drive a higher valuation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quantifying her stance, Antalffy put a Buy rating on ABT, along with a $158 price target that implies a 47% gain in the coming months. (To watch Antalffy\u2019s track record, click here<\/a>)<\/p>\n Wall Street clearly agrees that this stock has potential. ABT has a Strong Buy consensus rating, based on 15 recent reviews that show a lopsided 14 to 1 split in favor of Buy over Hold. The stock\u2019s $107.19 trading price and $137.14 average target price together indicate a 28% one-year upside potential. (See ABT stock forecast<\/a>)<\/p>\n Alcon, Inc. (ALC)<\/p>\n The second stock on our UBS-backed list, Alcon, is a Swiss-American company in the health care niche. Specifically, this Geneva, Switzerland-headquartered company has put together a portfolio of eye care devices, a portfolio designed to correct a number of common vision problems. Alcon\u2019s product lines include both surgical items and vision care products. The company, which boasts a market cap of $37.7 billion, has a global footprint, operating in more than 140 countries. Alcon employs over 25,000 people.<\/p>\n This eye-care firm is known for its lines of innovative products, and for its ability to create and develop partnerships with professionals in the eye-care field. Alcon\u2019s niche is strong, and the company benefits from having a very large potential customer base. According to company estimates, there are approximately 65 million people around the world dealing with vision loss from cataracts, and another 153 million who have uncorrected refractive errors. \u2018Dry eye\u2019 conditions are even more widespread, affecting 1.4 billion people globally, while 1.8 billion people are dealing with presbyopia.<\/p>\n The link between Alcon and \u2018longevity\u2019 is clear; vision problems, while they can occur at any age, become more common as people grow older.<\/p>\n We should note that Alcon\u2019s stock price has been falling in recent weeks; the stock has faced headwinds from concerns regarding some operational product rollouts, and from headwinds due to US tariff<\/a> policies. Looking at financial results, we see that revenue in 4Q25, the last period reported, grew 9% year-over-year to hit $2.7 billion, in line with expectations. The company realized non-GAAP earnings of $0.78 per share. This figure was a penny below the estimates.<\/p>\n UBS\u2019s Graham Doyle likes this stock, and points to several reasons why investors should buy in here. Laying out the case, Doyle writes, \u201cAlcon is a high-quality EU medtech large cap, which fits well with the Longevity theme given its industry leading position in ophthalmology. From a fundamental perspective, we think that the positive EPS revision we saw in 2024 is set to continue in 2025 driven by new product launches, which should drive faster top-line growth. We think the stock\u00a0deserves to trade at a valuation premium relative to the sector given the defensive top-line growth and margin expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n Doyle\u2019s Buy rating on ALC is supported by a $120.46 price target, which implies a 61% upside potential in the next 12 months. (To watch Doyle\u2019s track record, click here<\/a>)<\/p>\n There are 14 recent reviews on record for Alcon, and their breakdown \u2013 9 Buys, 4 Holds, and 1 Sell \u2013 gives the stock its Moderate Buy consensus rating. These shares have a selling price of $75.01 and their average target price of $95.93 indicates room for a 28% gain on the one-year time horizon. (See ALC stock forecast<\/a>)<\/p>\n Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.<\/p>\n Disclaimer & Disclosure<\/a>Report an Issue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, the conversation around getting older has focused on individuals \u2013 retirement, lifestyle, healthcare. But a bigger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[11550,2484,6901,4128,4461,22153,22152,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-37829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ubs","8":"tag-abbott-laboratories","9":"tag-aging-population","10":"tag-cardiovascular-health","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-longevity","13":"tag-market-opportunity","14":"tag-medical-device-companies","15":"tag-ubs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116284651167610831","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> <\/p>\n
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