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Abbott Laboratories earnings quality score

How much of the reported profit is backed by cash, and how many markers of managed earnings the filings show

Score61 / 100 · grade C · rank 660 of 1027

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) scores 61 of 100 for earnings quality, grade C: rank 660 of 1027 companies and 75 of 126 in health. It loses the most points on accruals of -3.6% of assets, higher than 55% of companies (profit backed by cash), adjusted earnings 50% below GAAP, Montier C-score 2 of 4 checks failed. It earns full or near-full marks for Beneish M-score -2.53: clean (below −2.22), Dechow F-score 0.54 (normal), profit about as variable as cash flow (smoothness 2.34).

What earned and lost points

ComponentWhat the filings showPointsOf
Accrualsaccruals of -3.6% of assets, higher than 55% of companies (profit backed by cash)920
Beneish M-scoreBeneish M-score -2.53: clean (below −2.22)1515
Dechow F-scoreDechow F-score 0.54 (normal)1515
Montier C-scoreMontier C-score 2 of 4 checks failed815
Discretionary accrualsdiscretionary accruals of -5.5% of assets (modified Jones), larger than most310
Piotroski F-scorePiotroski F-score 6 of 9710
Non-GAAP gapadjusted earnings 50% below GAAP010
Earnings smoothnessprofit about as variable as cash flow (smoothness 2.34)55
ABT: share of the available points, by componentABT: share of the available points, by componentAccruals44%Discretionary accruals29%Beneish M-score100%Dechow F-score100%Montier C-score50%Piotroski F-score67%Earnings smoothness100%

How the score is built

Eight published measures, each scored against the whole universe or on its own scale and weighted: accruals 20, discretionary accruals 10, Beneish M 15, Dechow F 15, Montier C 15, Piotroski F 10, the non-GAAP gap 10, smoothness 5. A measure that cannot be computed (Beneish for a bank, say) drops out and the rest is rescaled, so every company is scored on what applies to it.

Every company ranked → The full quality workbench, live → Abbott Laboratories: cash flow →

Computed from the companies’ own XBRL filings (latest fiscal year) by published formulas; a statistical screen, not an audit or an accusation. A low score means the reported profit shows more of the markers of managed or low-quality earnings than its peers. Not investment advice.