Abbott Labs 2nd-quarter revenues rise 1.9%

US health care company Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), which since its spin-out of its research-based prescription medicines business into AbbVie, now makes infant formula like Similac as well as medical devices and drugs, posted second-quarter 2014 financial results were much in line with expectations.

Abbott reported $5.6 billion in second quarter revenue, a 1.9% increase over the prior-year period and just beating the $5.5 billion Wall Street forecast. Net income came in at $466 million, or $0.30 per share, results that are slightly down (-2.1%) from earnings of $476 million, or $0.30 posted in the like quarter of 2013. Excluding special items, including a $369 million after-tax charge related to cost-savings initiatives, Abbott’s profit came in at $829 million, or $0.54 per share, beating the $0.51 per-share consensus forecasts from analysts.

Following the release of the earnings beat, shares of Abbott rose more than 2% in Wednesday’s pre-market trading session, but reversed some of those gains as the morning progressed, US media reports noted.