Abbott Laboratories' stock tumbled Thursday after the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs gave a disappointing earnings forecast, citing weakness in its Venezuelan business.
Abbott warned that it expects significantly lower contribution from its Venezuelan operations due to "challenging market conditions" in the South American country. Crumbling oil prices and official mismanagement have left the Venezuelan economy in a shambles, with the IMF estimating inflation there will top 700% this year.
For the current quarter, Abbott said it expects its per-share earnings to range from 38 cents to 40 cents. It said it expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.10 to $2.20 per share.
Analysts on average had been expecting 47 cents for the quarter and $2.27 for the year, according to FactSet.
The Abbott Park, Illinois-based company earned $767 million, or 51 cents per share, for its fourth quarter. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 62 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research had been expecting earnings of 61 cents per share.
Its revenue fell 3% to $5.19 billion in the period, weighed by the impact of the strong dollar. Analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.26 billion.
For the year, the company reported profit of $4.42 billion, or $2.92 per share, on revenue of $20.41 billion.
Its stock was down $4.22, or more than 10%, at $36.25 in afternoon trading.
With Thursday's losses, Abbott's shares have declined nearly 20% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has fallen about 8%. The stock has dropped slightly more than 17% in the last 12 months.
