Abbott Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

Lake County, Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories (ABT) discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. The company has a market cap of $182.9 billion and operates through Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices segments and offers generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, and more.

Shares of Abbott have underperformed the broader market over the past year, declining 19.1% compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 22.6% surge. Moreover, in 2026, the stock has fallen by nearly 15.6%, also lagging behind the SPX’s 8.5% gain.      

Zooming in further, the State Street Healthcare Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) has risen 23.9% over the past year, rallying the stock. In 2026, XLV has surged 6.1% and outperformed the stock.    

ABT has gone down nearly 20% over the past year owing to concerns over the company’s expected growth in the near future. The company acquired Exact Sciences for a transaction value of $23 billion in April, but the market reaction to it didn't go as planned. Although this acquisition strengthens ABT’s long-term cancer diagnostics franchise, the company had to lower its 2026 guidance due to diluted earnings from the acquisition. Additionally, investors were also concerned over FreeStyle Libre, one of Abbott’s most important growth driver’s, growth concerns. 

For the current year, which ends in December, analysts expect ABT’s EPS to rise 7.2% to $5.52 on a diluted basis. The company met or surpassed the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, which is impressive.      

Among the 29 analysts covering ABT stock, the consensus is a “Strong Buy.” That’s based on 20 “Strong Buy” ratings, two “Moderate Buys,” and seven “Holds.”  

The configuration has grown more bullish over the past months, with the stock now having 20 “Strong Buy” ratings, up from 19 three months prior. 

On July 9, Citi analyst Joanne Wuensch reiterated a “Buy” rating on Abbott stock and set a price target of $108. 

ABT’s mean price target of $119.38 offers an upside of 11.8% compared to the current market price. Its Street-high target of $143 implies a robust 33.9% upside from current levels.