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Strength Seen in Abbott (ABT): Can Its 3.1% Jump Turn into More Strength?

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Abbott (ABT - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 3.1% higher at $109.45. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 7.5% loss over the past four weeks.

Abbott scored a strong price increase on optimism surrounding the recent late-breaking data for its MitraClip and TriClip. The new findings demonstrated the MitraClip transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) to be effective at treating patients with leaky valves secondary mitral regurgitation (MR). The data also showed a significant reduction in tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and considerable improvement in quality of life with the TriClip and TriClip G4 TEER systems. Further, market is optimistic about Abbott's first-of-its-kind biowearable for diabetes patients that will continuously monitor glucose and ketone levels in one sensor.

This maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.11 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -5.1%. Revenues are expected to be $10.36 billion, up 1.4% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Abbott, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised marginally higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on ABT going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Abbott belongs to the Zacks Medical - Products industry. Another stock from the same industry, IM Cannabis Corp. (IMCC - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 1.3% higher at $0.73. Over the past month, IMCC has returned -28.7%.

For IM Cannabis Corp., the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.03. This represents a change of +84.2% from what the company reported a year ago. IM Cannabis Corp. currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).


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