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10/20/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/20/2026 12:21

Abbott Laboratories Earnings Ahead: What Past Reactions Say About The Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is scheduled to report its earnings on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The company has a market value of about $181.1 billion. Over the last twelve months it generated $46.6 billion in revenue and $7.3 billion in operating profit, with net income of $5.4 billion.

The reaction will turn on how the results and guidance land against expectations. Before the release, it helps to know how the stock has behaved after previous reports, and whether an early move has tended to carry on.

See the earnings reaction history of all stocks

How Often Has Abbott Laboratories Stock Risen After Earnings?

Some observations on one-day (1D) post-earnings returns, measured from the last close before each release:

  • There are 19 earnings releases in the last five years, with 8 positive and 11 negative one-day (1D) returns. Positive 1D returns were seen 42% of the time.
  • Over the last three years that share falls to 36%, across 11 releases.
  • The median of the 8 positive 1D returns is 3.2%, and the median of the 11 negative ones is -3.0%.
  • The largest one-day reactions were 10.7% and -10.0%.

The table below shows the 1D, 5-day (5D) and 21-day (21D) returns after each release, followed by summary statistics.

Earnings Date 1D 5D 21D
7/16/2026 10.7% 12.7% 24.6%
4/16/2026 -6.0% -9.7% -16.4%
1/22/2026 -10.0% -12.2% -7.1%
10/15/2025 -2.4% -3.9% -2.9%
7/17/2025 -8.5% -4.5% -1.9%
4/16/2025 2.8% 2.9% 5.6%
1/22/2025 0.8% 9.1% 14.0%
10/16/2024 1.5% 0.1% -0.3%
7/18/2024 -4.4% 2.5% 6.0%
4/17/2024 -3.0% -1.5% -4.2%
1/24/2024 -2.8% -0.5% 4.4%
10/18/2023 3.7% 2.9% 6.4%
7/20/2023 4.2% 6.3% -2.2%
4/19/2023 7.8% 5.6% 4.5%
1/25/2023 -1.4% -1.8% -8.9%
10/19/2022 -6.5% -6.7% -1.3%
7/20/2022 -1.5% -0.8% 0.6%
4/20/2022 2.2% -2.5% -6.0%
1/26/2022 -2.6% 3.2% -3.7%
Statistic 1D 5D 21D
# Positive 8 9 8
# Negative 11 10 11
Median Positive 3.2% 3.2% 5.8%
Median Negative -3.0% -3.2% -3.7%
Max Positive 10.7% 12.7% 24.6%
Max Negative -10.0% -12.2% -16.4%

Do Early Post-Earnings Moves Continue?

Another approach is to wait for the initial reaction and ask whether it tends to continue. The table below shows the correlation between the 1D return and the return over the following 5 and 21 trading days, and between the 5D return and the following 21 trading days. A value near 1 means the first move has tended to continue; near -1, to reverse; near 0, no consistent pattern. Over five years, none of these correlations is strong enough to trade on: all are below 0.40. Over the last three years, the 5D return and the next 21 days have moved together more (0.43), but that rests on only 11 releases.

History 1D vs next 5D 1D vs next 21D 5D vs next 21D
5 Years -0.15 -0.05 0.06
3 Years 0.15 0.25 0.43

Do Peers That Report First Offer A Clue?

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) usually reports a few days before Abbott Laboratories, and has already reported this season. The table compares each peer's one-day reaction to its own earnings with Abbott Laboratories' one-day reaction to the report that followed. The correlation is -0.53; the closer to 1, the more the peer's reaction has foreshadowed Abbott Laboratories', and a negative value means it has tended to point the other way.

ABT Earnings Date ABT 1D JNJ 1D
7/16/2026 10.7% -2.7%
4/16/2026 -6.0% 0.9%
1/22/2026 -10.0% -0.1%
10/15/2025 -2.4% -0.03%
7/17/2025 -8.5% 6.2%
4/16/2025 2.8% -0.5%
10/16/2024 1.5% 1.5%
7/18/2024 -4.4% 3.7%
1/24/2024 -2.8% -1.6%
10/18/2023 3.7% -0.9%
4/19/2023 7.8% -2.8%
1/25/2023 -1.4% n/a
10/19/2022 -6.5% -0.3%
7/20/2022 -1.5% -1.5%
4/20/2022 2.2% 3.1%
1/26/2022 -2.6% 2.9%
Correlation - -0.53

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Insight Guru Inc. published this content on October 20, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 20, 2026 at 18:21 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]