Abbott’s $23 billion Exact Sciences deal revives diagnostics growth ambitions

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) has completed its roughly $23 billion acquisition of Exact Sciences Corp., marking its largest deal in nearly a decade and a decisive push into the fast-growing cancer screening market.

The transaction, which closed on March 23, folds Exact Sciences’ portfolio, including Cologuard and Oncotype DX, into Abbott’s diagnostics division, giving the group a foothold in a US cancer screening and precision diagnostics market.

Abbott’s diagnostics unit has been grappling with a sharp post-pandemic unwind in COVID-19 testing revenues, leading to three consecutive years of decline. The addition of Exact Sciences, expected to contribute roughly $3.2 billion in sales in 2026, provides an immediate offset while repositioning the division towards structurally higher-growth oncology testing.

Visible Alpha consensus reflects that shift. Diagnostics revenues are projected to rise 31.8% year-on-year to $11.8 billion in 2026, lifting the segment to roughly 23% of group sales. The deal effectively reverses a multi-year contraction and restores diagnostics as a meaningful growth engine within Abbott’s diversified healthcare portfolio.

Abbott is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 earnings on Thursday, April 16, with analysts expecting revenues of $11 billion, up 6.5% year-on-year. Medical devices, the company’s largest division, is projected to see sales rise 12.1% to $5.5 billion.

Diagnostics revenues are expected to increase a modest 2.6% to $2.1 billion in the quarter, as the impact of the Exact Sciences acquisition is unlikely to be visible until the second quarter. Nutrition sales are forecast to decline 6.6% to $2 billion, while established pharmaceuticals are expected to grow 12.2% to $1.4 billion.

This article was published by Visible Alpha, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.