4900 reps globally? C'mon, folks. They're gonna sell this dying business to the highest bidder. May be Walmart. No, seriously - is it really the industry, or are they going to sell Primary Care or other divisions in bits and parts? Dunno. Something to think about.
There's not a shot in hell that Abbott could ever be acquired. It's just too big. They could, and have, spin off a division to sell. But it would never be primary care. Not as long as Humira is still around.
remember what hospira used to be......a division of Abbott But I think your right-Abbott is still too cash rich to be bought However, anyone check out the stock price???? Nothing like a good layoff to increase overall profits and look good to investors. Just getting rid of Don Carson alone must have opened up a salary that sent the stock up major points. Hey Don, guess that director promotion wasnt so great after all. Wonder of you were still RM you'd be around? Did you *iss anyoff that you can think of? (besides everyone)
just the opposite, listen to the analysts. the industry is contracting and just like any other industry there will be mergers and acquisitions in times like this. they will continue to buy.
Just an FYI for you folks that don't understand that "BIG" is completely realtive in financial terms -- Abbott has a market cap of roughly $68 billion so in reality you are NOT too big to be acquired, take for instance: Warner Lambert had market cap of >$80 billion BOUGHT BY Pfizer for $90 billion in 2000 Pharmacia had market cap of > $ 55 billion BOUGHT BY Pfizer for $60 billion in 2003 Wyeth had market cap of > $65 billion BOUGHT BY Pfizer for $68 billion in 2010 Schering Plough had market cap of > $40 billion BOUGHT by Merck for $42 billion in 2009 So as you can see -- yes $68 billion is a strong market cap but hardly immune from acquisition. Just sayin'
J&J would be the only company capable of buying Abbott. They are the only total healthcare company that understands multi layered non pharma divisions. A pharma house like Pfizer would be clueless how to run the non pharma business units. Too much risk for them.
I'm retired from Abbott and collecting a pension. To keep myself busy part-time, I am a Walmart greeter. Is this considered double dipping??
We are entering into a continuous state of compromise, and within this volatile risk market, consequences for Abbott when it fails to meet their regulatory security guidelines are feeling the pain all the way up the corporate ladder. Within this environment, traditional security controls are no longer sufficient to fully protect this company.