Abbott Laboratories (ABT) — Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Robert Ford, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Bob Funck, Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Robert and Bob will provide opening remarks. Following their comments, we'll take your questions. Before we get started, some statements made today may be forward-looking for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the expected financial results for 2023. Abbott cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward statements. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Abbott's operations are discussed in Item 1A, Risk Factors, to our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. Abbott undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events or developments, except as required by law. On today's conference call, as in the past, non-GAAP financial measures will be used to help investors understand Abbott's ongoing business performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled with comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings news release and regulatory filings from today, which are available on our website at abbott.com. Note that Abbott has not provided the GAAP financial measure for organic sales growth on a forward-looking basis because the company is unable to predict future changes in foreign exchange rates, which could impact reported sales growth. Unless otherwise noted, our commentary on sales growth refers to organic sales growth, which is defined in the quarterly results press release issued earlier today. With that, I will now turn the call over to Robert.

Thanks, Mike. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today, we reported second quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.08, which reflects an acceleration in the contribution from the underlying base business. Organic sales, excluding COVID testing, increased low double digits for the second quarter in a row and was led by mid-teens growth in Medical Devices, along with double-digit growth in Established Pharmaceuticals and Nutrition. On our last couple of earnings calls, I've highlighted improving underlying demand trends across our businesses. These strengthening trends continued in both our institutional and consumer-facing businesses this past quarter. Within the institutional businesses, health care systems around the world have continued to improve their ability to expand the supply of health care services through ongoing efforts to adjust protocols, manage the labor challenges and increase the overall available capacity to treat patients. In our more consumer-facing businesses, we're seeing consumers prioritize spending for health care products, which is driving increased demand for our products in the U.S. and internationally. I'll now summarize our second quarter results in more detail before turning the call over to Bob, and I'll start with Nutrition, where sales increased 10% in the quarter. In the U.S., growth was led by Pediatric Nutrition growth of more than 20%. We continue to make good progress in increasing manufacturing production and have now recovered approximately 75% of the market share in the infant formula business that was lost last year as a result of the voluntary recall. Internationally, total Nutrition sales grew 6%, led by growth in both Pediatric and Adult Nutrition businesses. Turning to Established Pharmaceuticals, sales increased 12.5% in the quarter. This strong performance was led by growth across several markets, including India and China; and therapeutic areas, including gastroenterology, women's health and CNS pain management. This business continues to execute at a high level and capitalize on the favorable demographic and socioeconomic trends in emerging markets. Moving to Diagnostics. Excluding COVID testing, organic sales grew 7%, led by Core Lab Diagnostics, where sales grew 10%, driven by performance in the U.S., Europe and China. This broad-based strong performance reflects the increased demand for routine diagnostic testing globally. And in the U.S., our blood transfusion testing business continues to make good progress, recovering from the impact of lower plasma donations that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. And I'll wrap up with Medical Devices, where sales grew more than 14% on an organic basis, including double-digit growth in both the U.S. and internationally. In Diabetes Care, FreeStyle Libre sales exceeded $1.3 billion in the quarter and grew 25% on an organic basis. During the quarter, Libre became the first and only continuous glucose monitoring system to be nationally reimbursed in France for all people with diabetes who use insulin. This achievement was a direct result of the unique value proposition that Libre offers, a fully featured continuous glucose monitor made available at an accessible price. Abbott has led the way in expanding reimbursement coverage for continuous glucose monitors in order to bring the benefits of this life-changing technology to more people around the world. In cardiovascular devices, sales grew more than 10% overall in the quarter, led by double-digit growth in Electrophysiology and Structural Heart. In Electrophysiology, performance was led by international growth of more than 20%, which included high teens growth in Europe and strong growth in China. During the quarter, we received U.S. FDA approval for our TactiFlex ablation catheter, the world's first ablation catheter with a flexible tip and contact force sensing technology, which helps to deliver improved procedure outcomes and faster procedure times. In Structural Heart, performance was driven by MitraClip growth of approximately 10%, along with growth from several recently launched new products. Earlier this year, we submitted for FDA approval for TriClip, our minimally invasive tricuspid valve repair device that helps treat a condition of tricuspid regurgitation, a leaky heart valve disease. The clinical trial data supporting our submission showed that TriClip is a highly effective and safe treatment that provides a significant improvement in the quality of life for patients. TriClip is currently being reviewed by the FDA, and we look forward to bringing this first-of-its-kind technology to patients here in the U.S. In Rhythm Management, growth of 8% was led by Aveir, our recently launched leadless pacemaker. And during the quarter, we received FDA approval for our dual-chamber leadless pacemaker, a first-of-its-kind technology that allows for two pacemaker devices to communicate with one another inside the body to provide minimally invasive treatment for those with abnormal heart rhythms. Aveir was specifically designed to be upgradable and retrievable in order to evolve with patient changes and therapy needs over time. This unique technology offers the potential to revolutionize care for millions of people who require a pacemaker. And lastly, in Neuromodulation, sales grew 16%, driven by the recent launch of Eterna, our first rechargeable neurostimulation device for pain management, which targets a large segment of the market where we previously did not compete. During the first half of this year, we introduced several new innovations, including the launch of Eterna, and label indication expansions for treating painful diabetic neuropathy and chronic back pain for those who have not had or are not eligible for back surgery. So in summary, we exceeded expectations on both the top and the bottom lines. Growth in the underlying base business accelerated, driven by improving market conditions and contributions from both new products and legacy growth platforms. And our pipeline continues to be highly productive, which will sustain our strong growth profile in the future. I'll now turn over the call to Bob. Bob?

Thanks, Robert. As Mike mentioned earlier, please note that all references to sales growth rates, unless otherwise noted, are on an organic basis. Turning to our second quarter results. Sales decreased 9.2% on an organic basis due to, as expected, a year-over-year decline in COVID testing-related sales. Excluding COVID testing-related sales, underlying base business organic sales growth was 11.5% in the quarter. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable year-over-year impact of 2.5% on second quarter sales. During the quarter, we saw the U.S. dollar strengthen somewhat against several currencies, which resulted in a slightly more unfavorable impact on sales compared to exchange rates at the time of our earnings call in April. Regarding other aspects of the P&L, the adjusted gross margin ratio was 55.4% of sales, which reflects continued flow-through impacts from the elevated inflation we experienced last year on certain manufacturing and distribution costs as well as an unfavorable impact from foreign exchange. Adjusted R&D was 6.4% of sales, and adjusted SG&A was 27.2% of sales in the second quarter. Lastly, our second quarter adjusted tax rate was 14%. Turning to our outlook for the full year. We now forecast total underlying base business organic sales growth, excluding COVID testing sales, to be in the low double digits. We're now forecasting COVID testing-related sales of around $1.3 billion, which is below our full-year forecast of around $1.5 billion that we provided in April due to current testing dynamics, including lower demand for testing following the end of the public health emergency in May. For the third quarter, we forecast COVID testing sales of around $100 million. Based on current rates, we expect exchange to have an unfavorable impact of a little more than 1.5% on full-year reported sales. Lastly, our full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance of $4.30 to $4.50 remains unchanged but reflects a lower earnings contribution from COVID testing sales compared to expectations in April, offset by raising our underlying base business earnings forecast by approximately $0.05 based on our strong performance and outlook. Compared to the initial guidance we provided back in January, we have now raised our underlying base business earnings forecast by more than $0.15, offsetting the lower contribution from COVID testing versus our initial forecast. Turning to our outlook for the third quarter. We forecast adjusted earnings per share to be approximately $1.10, which reflects strong growth on the underlying base business. We forecast total underlying base business organic sales growth, excluding COVID testing sales, to be in the low double digits, and exchange to have an unfavorable impact of a little more than 1% on our third-quarter reported sales. With that, we'll now open the call for questions.

Congratulations on another strong quarter. The core business is generating nice momentum. Organic sales growth accelerating, earnings power increasing. Robert, it would be great to hear your views, first, on the drivers of the back-half momentum, assuming an updated low double-digit organic revenue growth forecast for '23. And then, second, it'd be great also to get your thoughts on the sustainability of this building momentum in '24 as the business is creating some more challenging comps for next year.

Yes, it was a very strong quarter with broad-based growth. However, I believe we can still improve, and my team shares that sentiment. Reflecting on the past couple of years during COVID, we indicated that there was a significant opportunity for us, suggesting that once COVID subsided, we would have a robust baseline for our business and would make investments. That’s what we are currently witnessing in the last few quarters, and we expect this trend to continue throughout the year and into 2024. We noted substantial growth across all four sectors, not counting the COVID testing segment. As mentioned earlier, both the institutional and consumer businesses showed acceleration from Q1 to Q2 compared to the same quarter last year. All indicators are showing positive momentum. Devices and Diagnostics saw a notable improvement, which I attribute to favorable market conditions and the addressing of previous care bottlenecks by hospital systems. Additionally, markets are reopening, which is a continuing trend, alongside our new product launches. EPD has maintained high single-digit to low double-digit growth over the past two years, and I believe this will persist. We are likely one of the best-positioned large healthcare companies in emerging markets, thanks to our unique strategy that emphasizes regionalization and local execution. The double-digit growth in Nutrition met our expectations. We are observing a recovery in the Pediatric business and regaining market share. My previous comment about three quarters of recovery applies to the general market, but when examining various segments and SKU sets, some areas are already back to leading positions. The Adult segment is performing well in multiple countries. COVID-related figures have declined as we predicted, and we have reduced our COVID revenue estimate by a couple of hundred million dollars, reflecting the decline in testing as the public health emergency came to a close. We'll see how this impacts Q4, likely marking the first quarter of an endemic respiratory season. Meanwhile, the foundation of our business remains strong. Geographically, growth was broad-based across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, with China’s reopening providing a positive boost, albeit not significantly inflating our growth rate; excluding China, it only contributed about one percentage point to the overall 11.5% growth rate. We are pleased with the top line and believe it is sustainable, which is why we adjusted our growth outlook from high single-digit to low double-digit rates. Additionally, our pipeline and overall productivity played a critical role this quarter, with many product approvals expected to drive future growth. While it may be too soon for detailed guidance for 2024, I think the anticipated COVID decline this year has somewhat overshadowed the performance strength of our core business. As the COVID figures decline, we will begin to see the real strength of our base operations. The core business is contributing around $4.10 to earnings for the full year, approximately $0.15 higher than our initial forecast from January. This indicates significant growth, driven by top-line performance. Investments made during COVID have allowed us to achieve this growth. Therefore, I believe our pipeline will sustain strong results going into 2024. Gross margin remains an ongoing focus, considering the impacts of foreign exchange and inflation. However, I have already observed improvements in gross margin profiles for three of our four major businesses compared to the end of last year, indicating positive momentum. In consideration of all these factors, I believe we are successfully achieving significant growth in both sales and earnings, bolstered by new product offerings, a strong pipeline, and the potential for gross margin expansion, placing us in a favorable position as we progress through the latter half of this year and into 2024.

Congrats on the nice quarter here. Just one for me. Robert, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the med tech top five and the pipeline, specifically how you're thinking about Aveir and the dual chamber approval and TriClip you mentioned earlier, and just the sustainability of that 11% cardio neuromod growth we saw this quarter.

Certainly. That group of products performed well this quarter, with overall growth of about 40%. Annualizing the Q2 run rate brings us to just over $650 million, and I anticipate our performance will improve in the coming quarters. Regarding the specific products, on the Aveir side, we witnessed significant progress for leadless devices this quarter. Last year, we received FDA approval for the single chamber, and our claims data suggests we could capture about a third of that market. What excites us even more is the recent approval for the dual chamber, which represents a much larger segment, accounting for around 80% of the $3 billion global pace market. This innovative technology allows two implanted devices to communicate, presenting a significant opportunity to shift the current paradigm. Initially, we'll focus on mastering the larger market and ensuring robust clinical results while training physicians. We're also planning to open new centers strategically to capture this opportunity. Additionally, Amulet achieved 25% growth this quarter, and we're committed to producing strong real-world clinical results and carefully expanding accounts to establish a sustainable presence in this rapidly growing market. With TAVR and Navitor, our quarterly sales have roughly doubled over the past 18 months, and the feedback from implanters has been very positive regarding the implantation technique and outcomes. This positions us well in the U.S. after the launch and we are seeing strong international performance as well, marked by increased market share and new account openings. Regarding TriClip, international performance is similarly strong, and the enthusiasm among physicians is growing as they now have a more effective option for treating patients with TR. The publication of TRILUMINATE data earlier this year further boosted our presence in international markets, correlating directly with an increase in implants. I'm eager to introduce this product in the U.S., having submitted to the FDA earlier this year. The clinical data supporting our submission shows significant quality-of-life improvements, and I'm optimistic about our potential in the U.S. market. The PMA submission was completed in January, and while we didn't forecast substantial sales this year, it should be a strong contributor moving into next year. In the neuro sector, we've seen considerable innovation over the last six months, and I believe there's substantial potential to capitalize on that. Looking at our cardio and neuro businesses, the products launched represent billion-dollar segments, and we're still in the early stages. I'm excited about their momentum and the sustainable growth prospects in both areas.

Robert, I have two product-specific questions. First, regarding Libre, I noticed a slowdown in the U.S. market last quarter. I'm curious about your observations, especially with a competitor launching a new product while you are introducing Libre 3. Additionally, you now have basal coverage for Medicare; how do you see that ramping up? My second question is about MitraClip. The previous quarter was satisfactory, but this market had been experiencing double-digit growth before COVID. Where do you anticipate this market will settle once we overcome staffing constraints and the current challenges in the patient population due to high mortality rates associated with COVID? Those are my two questions.

Thank you for the question, Danielle. We had a very strong quarter with our Libre product, achieving 25% growth overall and 30% growth in the U.S. Internationally, we experienced a 22% increase. This growth is impressive, especially now that we have moved past the upgrades from the second half of last year. The basal product presents a significant opportunity. As I mentioned regarding France, this isn't just a tender award; the French authorities reviewed claims data and feedback from basal users. We hold about a 70% market share, which led them to recognize the product's positive impact. This momentum is encouraging, particularly with reimbursement in the U.S., Japan, and France, which are three of the top five global markets where we're well positioned. Our U.S. coverage began in April and is progressing well. Looking ahead, we're excited about the upcoming product launches and pipeline developments in the latter half of this year. For instance, our integration with pumps is set to see Tandem's integration with our CGM system in the U.S. later this year, which is thrilling. Furthermore, we have received approval for our L3 iCGM, along with a 15-day sensor that we plan to launch in the U.S. in the latter half of this year. Our team is also on track to initiate our glucose-ketone dual-sensor trial in Q4. The launch I'm most enthusiastic about is the Libre 2 streaming. This is a fantastic opportunity as we aim to transition our entire Libre 2 user base from scanning to real-time streaming via an app update. We've just tested our first conversion in the U.K., facing some challenges but ultimately achieving a 90% conversion rate by the end of Monday. The feedback on social media has been overwhelmingly positive. This conversion will allow us to transform our Libre 2 base into a more compact version of L3 globally, leveraging our manufacturing capabilities. Libre is on an excellent growth path, and I anticipate that this momentum will continue. Regarding MitraClip, we experienced solid performance with 10% growth, while international sales rose by 20%. The U.S. growth was more modest, highlighting some challenges. I don't believe staffing is the issue anymore; it was more pronounced in the second half of last year. However, we are focusing on revitalizing our referral process in the U.S., which has been disrupted by the pandemic. This is a crucial area for our U.S. commercial team as we aim to enhance referrals from cardiologists to hospitals. While we aim to resolve these challenges domestically, we see strong growth internationally, which we plan to accelerate to balance the overall performance. The market remains attractive, and we're optimistic about our successes abroad, while we work on improving the U.S. referral situation to boost our performance there.

Congratulations on a strong performance. Robert, I have a two-part question. Firstly, you mentioned a double-digit organic base. Should we be concerned about the comparison issues for fiscal '24? I'm considering Lingo, which I believe is just launching. Will that be sufficient to maintain the current strength we're seeing? Any comments or updates on the Lingo launch would be appreciated. Secondly, regarding gross margins, I noticed they are down sequentially. With an overall projection of 56% for the year, it seems we may be at the lower end of the EPS guidance. I understand you mentioned a $1 billion impact from inflation. How should we view that in terms of margin expansion benefits in the latter half of '24?

I'll address the question about Lingo and then let Bob provide details on gross margin. Regarding Lingo, this has been a key part of our strategy. It wasn’t an afterthought when we were developing the Lingo platform; we anticipated needing to expand beyond diabetes. We approached this thoughtfully and intentionally. The chance to invest significantly during COVID was pivotal for us. To do this effectively, we established a dedicated team, which I met with a few months ago. The scientists, engineers, data experts, and marketing professionals in this team are solely focused on Lingo, with diverse backgrounds primarily in digital and consumer health rather than diabetes. Their aim is to create a product targeting healthy individuals who want to maintain their health. We launched the product in the U.K. yesterday, and I commend Lisa and her team for their efforts. The value proposition is simple, aimed at improving metabolic health for this consumer segment. It educates users about glucose spikes and how their bodies respond to food, sleep, and exercise, with the goal of minimizing such spikes. The Lingo coach first learns about an individual’s metabolism by using a sensor, then assigns a daily target we call the Lingo count, which represents the acceptable number of spikes for the day. We will monitor daily progress towards this target, which we believe will effectively encourage behavior modification in those without diabetes. The app will feature charts and data, but the simplicity of the Lingo count is crucial for driving change. It operates on a subscription basis and is directly available to consumers. While we are exploring partnership opportunities, it's primarily direct to consumer. The web shop is now open, and pricing aligns with our cash pay prices for Libre. Importantly, we need to continually provide fresh content and data for the app. Considering the advancements in AI, we see tremendous opportunities. I regard this venture alongside Libre as one of our most significant chances to leverage AI for personalization. The product has launched in the U.K., and we will learn from this market before introducing it to others. I anticipate your question about a U.S. launch—yes, we plan to file here by the end of the year. I don't foresee a substantial financial impact initially, but I believe this could become a significant contributor to our growth over time. This element of our growth strategy is now in motion, and we look forward to its potential.

Okay. So regarding the gross margin question, back in January, we projected a gross margin of 56% of sales for the full year. Throughout the first half of the year, our base business, excluding COVID testing, is in line with that expectation. However, we are observing lower gross margins on our COVID tests due to a significant decline in volumes compared to our initial assumptions at the start of the year. This is reflected in the slightly lower gross margin that you've noticed. For the remainder of the year, we anticipate gross margins to remain around 56%, with steady improvement thereafter. As Robert mentioned, this is a key focus for us. Each of our businesses has gross margin improvement plans in place, with dedicated teams working on this initiative. As we move into 2024, we expect to see overall improvement in our gross margins.

Briefly, can you sort of tear apart the Electrophysiology growth rate of 17%? How much of that is in the U.S.? How much of that is oUS? And what do you think is driving that? And then I'll just jump in with my second question, which is, if you have reclaimed about 75% of the Pediatric Nutritional business, can you get to 100%? Or do you think you're more or less where you can get to?

Sure. So really good growth on EP. We're up about 17% total. U.S. was high single digits, around 9%. International was about 24%. In that 24%, Joanne, there's probably about 8 or 9 points of kind of China recovery. So if you look at the growth rate internationally outside of China, that was about 15%. So real strong growth. Again, if you look at Europe specifically, it was up just under 20%. So it's pretty broad based. And even if you look at the big five countries in Europe, they did really well there. TactiFlex in those countries, that's been out there for a couple of quarters right now. We only got approval in the U.S. towards the end of the quarter. So that's doing very well, and it's really helping. We got really good feedback on the catheter. So growth is doing very well. The U.S. is probably a little bit impacted by kind of the capital cycle. If you remember, last year, we launched EnSite X, and it was like a very large bolus of kind of upgrading and capital placements that we're making. We get a lot of good feedback on the system, both from the users and from the administration, especially the fact that it's an open system. So that's done very well. If you look at the consumable part of the U.S. growth, it was up in the mid-teens. So that, I guess, the term used was tear apart the EP growth rate. But again, it's a great market. We've got a great position and good recovery, and I expect to see this continuing throughout this year. And sorry, what was your other question? No, I made it clear to my team and publicly stated that our goal is to regain 100% of our market share by the end of the year. A significant factor driving this is our manufacturing ramp-up. We restarted the manufacturing process in July for specialty products and in August and September for non-specialty ones. This has allowed us to keep up with demand. We have a strong brand in Similac, which is evident. As I mentioned in response to Josh's question earlier, if you look at the different segments, particularly WIC and non-WIC, we’ve returned to our leadership position in the WIC segment, regaining our status from before the recall. We focused heavily on this during Q3 and Q4. In summary, we are still on track to reach our pre-recall market share by the end of the year. Furthermore, if we analyze the various formulas, some of them have already returned to pre-recall levels. The team is dedicated to this goal, and I am not altering that target.

I wanted to ask a fairly high-level one here on the Diagnostics business. Now that COVID testing is sort of behind us, Core Lab was really strong this quarter. I just want to kind of get an update on the areas of investment and growth in Diagnostics testing today. The Alinity rollout, how that's progressing? And whatever else, in terms of tests or trends, we should be paying attention to now in Diagnostics?

Sure. I think we experienced a strong recovery as health systems reopened, and routine testing has returned. This recovery has been broad-based across the U.S., Europe, Asia (excluding China), and Latin America. Alinity operates on a multiyear cycle, with contracts typically spanning 7 to 10 years, meaning that approximately 15% of them come up for renewal each year. We are also trying to find the right balance between revenue growth and gross margin expansion, and we believe we are in the appropriate range. While we could potentially accelerate growth through more instrument placements and capital investment, this may create some pressure on gross margins. We're carefully considering how to expand these placements. One area that has recovered significantly, which I mentioned earlier, is blood banks. As a market leader, we benefit significantly from the resurgence of blood and plasma donations, both in the U.S. and globally. Our primary focus is on identifying the assays and tests that are currently missing and directing our R&D investments to fill those gaps. During the COVID pandemic, while one segment of our diagnostic business focused on COVID testing, another group received funds to develop new assays for future deployment. This is a crucial strategic driver for us because the capital invested in instruments allows for the addition of more assays, which typically have a higher margin profile. Molecular diagnostics is another focus area, where we are working on expanding our menu. Additionally, in Point of Care, our team has developed an exciting new rapid test for traumatic brain injury, specifically for concussion testing. This test has been approved for plasma samples, and we are working on adapting it for whole blood samples that can be processed through a clear waiver test. This would result in a handheld blood test capable of ruling out concussions in just 15 minutes, which has significant potential applications, especially in this country. Thus, these are key areas of focus in Diagnostics.

I have a clarification regarding some of the earlier topics and a question about our pipeline. Specifically, I want to discuss the developments in continuous glucose monitoring and wearables that you mentioned, Robert, to understand how they will integrate over the next 18 to 24 months. You mentioned that Lingo is set to be filed at the end of the year. Is that still focused on ketones and lactates? Also, is there a possibility for including ketones in the core continuous glucose monitoring system for Libre 3? Lastly, I have a quick question about the pipeline.

Sure. Yes, the Lingo product that was launched yesterday, it was really starting off with a glucose-only component to it. We had a lot of debate about this, and we wanted to start off simple. The opportunity to add ketones to that is definitely in the mix, Matt. There's going to be a lot of learning here for us as we, like I say, market a product to a healthy population. And there's going to be a lot of learnings about that. But the idea, as I've laid out at CES a couple of years ago, is that we'll have a pipeline of different analytes that will come into this. Lactate is on the menu also. The team has figured that out. There is an interesting application for lactate, both in the consumer market but also in the institutional market for continuous lactate monitoring. So bottom line, Lingo starts with glucose. And then we'll be adding on different analytes as we go learning through that. But all of those opportunities are all there. And I actually think that there's going to be an opportunity, as I've said, with ketones in the diabetes space, for sure. And that dual sensor with ketones-glucose is very strong for a specific diabetes population, but I also think it could be strong for a non-diabetes population also. Yes. Listen, the CSI closed this quarter. Thank you for asking that. I think it's going to really have a strong impact as we look at our vascular business and really focus on the growth in the peripheral. You can see that we've strategically been adding, either organically with our below-the-knee stent that we're working on that's currently in trial, and then all the inorganic moves that we've been making. So that's very clear, and we're super excited about having the CSI portfolio at Abbott. Yes, and you highlighted one of the ones that, as we're looking at it, that we were super excited about, and the IVL product. I'll put it this way, as we look and do a lot of the integration efforts, and we did a lot of that in St. Jude, and we learned a lot, I would say, from an R&D and portfolio perspective, as part of that integration exercise, that's one that gets probably a disproportionate amount of attention and share of mind from us as we're doing the integration and as we're looking at the program and thinking about would the program benefit from additional resources, etc. So I'm not prepared to comment on that right now, Matt. But rest assured that this one is high on my priority list as we're going through these next kind of quarters here of integration.

Operator, we'll take one more question, please.

Maybe just on margins. It looked like there was a nice lift to base business' up margin. And I'm just wondering, is this all related to the improvement in Infant Nutrition? Or are there other factors at work? And then maybe just as a bit of a related question. You talked about the inflationary impacts on gross margin. I think we all understand that. But I'm wondering if you're seeing input costs actually start to come down now? And if so, when will we start to see that impact the P&L?

Sure. We're back to our pre-pandemic operating margin profile, which is a positive development. The path to this point looks different than before; we've seen a slight reduction in gross margins due to some factors mentioned earlier. This operating margin is the result of two key components. We made numerous investments during the COVID period, which I have previously discussed over the past couple of years. This year, we're witnessing accelerated top-line growth, resulting in significant operating leverage from those investments, and we haven't needed to increase our SG&A or R&D spending to achieve this 11.5% or low double-digit growth in revenue. Regarding infant formula, it certainly plays a role as we regain market share and ramp up manufacturing. However, growth across the business contributes to this improvement, particularly from our device sector, which has a higher gross margin. We are focused on enhancing our gross margin moving forward. Input costs are indeed decreasing, and if this trend continues into next year, we will have a substantial opportunity. We prioritized ensuring we have sufficient inventory to take advantage of top-line opportunities this year, especially given the supply chain disruptions we faced last year that impacted our revenue. Therefore, we instructed our team to secure our supply, volume, and pricing. With commodities declining, revisiting our contracts for next year could present a significant opportunity. In conclusion, we began the year with strong momentum, achieving double-digit organic sales growth over two consecutive quarters. The growth was widespread across our portfolio, without being concentrated in any single area or region. Our pipeline has been productive, which is crucial for sustaining our top-line performance and addressing unfulfilled patient needs. We've also increased our organic sales growth and EPS guidance for the core business, which is now projected to be approximately $0.15 higher than our original forecast in January. We're feeling positive about the second half of the year and looking ahead into next year. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for your questions. This now concludes Abbott's conference call. A webcast replay of this call will be available after 11:00 a.m. Central Time today on Abbott's Investor Relations website at abbottinvestor.com. Thank you for joining us today.