Abbott downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs - InvestingChannel

Abbott downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Amit Hazan downgraded Abbott Laboratories to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $84, up from $79. The shares closed Friday up $2.82 to $94.95. The stock has overreacted to the company’s COVID testing opportunity, Hazan tells investors in a research note. Despite taking an early lead with multiple viral and antibody emergency use authorizations in the U.S. and a “sizable” test production outlook, competitors have steadily diminished Abbott’s early advantage with their own approvals on high throughput systems, says the analyst. Hazan sees 10% downside in the shares and remains skeptical that the demand for antibody testing will reach a material level for Abbott revenues given the much lower price point for those tests.