Abbott Laboratories pips Wall Street estimates in third quarter

US healthcare firm Abbott Laboratories reported earnings slightly better than analysts' expectations on Wednesday.

The Illinois-based company posted net earnings of $580m, or $0.38 per share for the quarter. Shares of Abbott were down 2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.

Abbott is currently in the process of acquiring St.Jude Medical for $25bn, which also posted its Q3 results on Wednesday.

St.Jude is dealing with a number of legal challenges, including one from the US Food and Drug Administration as reports claim there are serious defects with its heart devices.

Abbott is also said to be buying molecular diagnostic company Alere for $5.8bn.

A decline in the company's nutrition unit was counteracted by a strong performance for its medical devices operations.

"We're on track to deliver the financial commitments we set at the beginning of the year," said chairman and CEO Miles White. "We also had several key product launches and continued to take strategic actions to shape our business for long-term growth."