Remember when double-digit growth was enough to send a stock price soaring? Not anymore, folks. Yesterday, Abbott Labs
Year-over-year growth of 54% in sales of anti-inflammatory Humira lead the sales growth charge. That's pretty impressive, especially since Johnson & Johnson
Abbott also got its cholesterol drug Simcor approved during the first quarter. Simcor is a combination of the active ingredient in Merck's
The drug- and medical device-maker is still expecting FDA approval for its drug-eluting stent, Xience V, in the next few months. The company is hoping to have 25%-30% of the U.S. stent market cornered within the first year after its launch. Even though I think Abbott's data is clearly the strongest and that the company will win out in the long run, that goal might be a tad optimistic. The entrenched stent makers, Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific
When will Abbott's stock break out of the funk it's been in over the last year? I have no idea, but at least investors will get to enjoy their higher 2.8% dividend yield -- thanks to the increased dividend in February -- while they wait.