Abbott Diagnostics Volume Holds Steady; Hospital Labs Lead Growth for 2H 2026 US Procedures

Abbott diagnostics volume trends and what they imply for US healthcare procedure volumes in 2H 2026

1) What Abbott’s diagnostic test volume trend is saying (the “thermometer”)

Abbott’s management explicitly treats diagnostic testing volumes as a real-time indicator of broader healthcare activity: “Diagnostic test results inform approximately 70% of all health care decisions… [making] testing volumes a reliable barometer of overall health care activity and demand.” ¹

In the most recent quarter discussed, Abbott stated that its “test volume data… continues to reflect strong and stable demand for testing,” drawn from instruments “located across the United States and around the world.” ² Management also tied this “strong and stable demand” to “durable underlying demand for healthcare” rather than something temporary. ²

Separately, management highlighted that US laboratory volumes held up “very well” and were “not seeing a decline,” including in “The States that we have seen the highest level of ACA disenrollment.” ³ This is directly relevant to the investor narrative about potential deceleration in US procedure volumes, because disruptions in insurance coverage are one hypothesized driver of fewer lower-acuity or elective procedures.

2) The key split: US Core Lab growth led by hospital labs (instruments + reagents)

Abbott gave a more granular view of US Core Lab performance, including a specific split between “Labs” and “hospital labs” within the US Core Lab business:

• Abbott said its “US Core Lab business has accelerated growth in the last 2 quarters,” with a print of about “7.5% this quarter.” ⁴
• Within that, the “hospital labs” component—described as “selling instruments and reagents specifically for hospital and in hospital testing”—was “up 13% this quarter.” ⁴

That matters for your question because “procedure volumes” in the US are ultimately driven by patient throughput and clinical demand at hospitals and ambulatory settings. A stronger growth rate in “hospital labs” versus the overall US Core Lab number implies that testing occurring in the hospital environment is not weakening; it is actually growing faster. ⁴

3) What this implies about US healthcare procedure volumes in 2H 2026

A. Abbott is not observing the deceleration story in forward-looking diagnostic volumes

When asked whether investors should expect “decelerating procedure volumes particularly in the US,” management pointed to diagnostic volumes (which provide forward-looking visibility) and said, essentially, they are “not seeing anything” indicating such a decline. ⁵³

They reinforced this in two ways:

1. No evidence of coverage-related downside in diagnostics/procedures: Management argued the patient mix and chronic disease focus means the US system treats serious acute conditions regardless of ACA/Medicaid expansion, and that their portfolio is “tied… to… major chronic conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular [and] cancer,” which makes it “less likely to forego insurance.” ³
2. Testing volumes are holding up even in high-ACA-disenrollment states: Management again emphasized “testing volumes in the US have held up very well” and that they are “not seeing a decline.” ³

Taken together, this supports an outlook that US procedure volumes should remain supported through 2H 2026, at least to the extent that hospital-anchored diagnostics activity is a proxy for clinical throughput and ordering behavior. ⁴³

B. Hospital-lab growth specifically argues against weakness in hospital-driven activity

The hospital labs segment being “up 13%” while US Core Lab overall was “about 7.5%” is a particularly important signal for the US procedure-volume question because hospitals are where many higher-acuity services and related testing orders originate. ⁴ If hospital testing were deteriorating, you would expect hospital-lab momentum to be weaker than the core average, not stronger.

Therefore, the Abbott diagnostic trend and this split inform a view that the hospital environment remains active and that any “negative preannouncements” from the hospital sector are not showing up in Abbott’s instruments-based testing read-through. ⁴⁵³

C. Abbott frames the demand as durable and stable, not cyclical noise

Management described test volumes as “strong and stable” and “durable underlying demand for healthcare.” ² Stability matters because procedure-volume concerns are often about whether the downturn accelerates; Abbott’s language suggests demand persistence rather than an inflection that would normally pressure volumes in later quarters (like 2H). ²

4) Nuances and caveats inside Abbott’s diagnostic mix

Abbott’s excerpts also show that not all diagnostic categories are moving in the same direction:

• In rapid and molecular diagnostics, sales declined “8%” due to an “anticipated decrease in respiratory testing,” tied to a “weaker than normal season.” ²

This is a key caveat: the stable “test volume data” claim is about instruments-based testing demand broadly, but category-specific effects can still occur (seasonality, assay utilization patterns). ² Still, the core point for your procedure-volume outlook is that the overall diagnostic read-through and especially the hospital labs component are not indicating deterioration. ⁴³²

5) Bottom-line outlook for US healthcare procedure volumes in 2H 2026

Based strictly on Abbott’s diagnostic read-through:

• Abbott’s instruments-based diagnostic test volume data points to “strong and stable” demand and does not show a decline in the US, including high ACA-disenrollment states. ³²
• US Core Lab is growing at about 7.5%, with hospital labs up 13%, implying hospital-influenced testing remains robust—an indicator consistent with continued support for US healthcare procedure activity in 2H 2026. ⁴
• Management is explicitly not seeing evidence consistent with a US procedure-volume deceleration when diagnostics are viewed as a forward barometer of healthcare activity. ⁵³

So, the diagnostic trend and the US core lab vs. hospital-lab split inform an outlook of continued resilience (not deterioration) in US healthcare procedure volumes into the second half of 2026, at least as signaled by ongoing hospital testing demand that Abbott measures through its instrument network. ⁴⁵³²