ABT vs BSX: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
ABT is the larger of the two ($182.70B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (17.29x forward earnings, beta 0.58). BSX is the smaller challenger ($64.33B), cheaper on forward earnings (13.15x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
ABT vs BSX: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | ABT | BSX | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $182.70B | $64.33B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 17.29 | 13.15 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 33.84 | 17.97 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 0.58 | 0.57 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 46% of range | 5% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 3.55 | 2.58 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Reading it: BSX is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.
Before you buy: how ABT and BSX affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ABT and BSX share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ABT and BSX exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Abbott Laboratories (ABT) do?
Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois, that discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products in more than 160 countries through four segments: Medical Devices, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Established Pharmaceutical Products. Medical Devices, the largest segment at roughly $21.4 billion in 2025 revenue, includes the FreeStyle Libre family of continuous glucose monitors, structural heart products (Navitor, TriClip), electrophysiology systems (AVEIR leadless pacemaker, Volt pulsed field ablation, TactiFlex Duo), vascular devices, and heart-failure technologies (CardioMEMS). Diagnostics contributed roughly $8.9 billion in 2025 before the Exact Sciences deal, Nutrition roughly $8.5 billion (anchored by Similac infant formula and Ensure adult nutrition), and Established Pharmaceuticals roughly $5.5 billion in branded generics sold primarily in emerging markets.
What does Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) do?
Boston Scientific Corporation is a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets minimally invasive devices used in interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, structural heart, peripheral interventions, endoscopy, urology, neuromodulation, and cardiac rhythm management. It reports through two broad segments: Cardiovascular, which houses the electrophysiology business (led by the Farapulse pulsed field ablation system) and the Watchman left-atrial-appendage closure franchise, and MedSurg, which spans endoscopy, urology, and neuromodulation. The company sells into hospitals and physicians across roughly 130 countries and competes at the leading edge of catheter-based and device-based procedures that substitute for more invasive surgery.
ABT vs BSX: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- ABT drivers: FreeStyle Libre: A Platform, Not Just a Product; Cardiovascular and Electrophysiology Momentum.
- BSX drivers: Farapulse and the Pulsed Field Ablation Wave; Watchman Franchise Expansion.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The most acute near-term risk is infant formula litigation: juries have delivered verdicts including a $53 million compensatory award in late March 2026 and a separately upheld $495 million verdict, with hundreds of additional NEC-related cases pending, and a securities class action filed in 2026 adds a parallel legal exposure track targeting alleged investor misstatements. For BSX, the most immediate concern is a run of setbacks in 2026.
ABT or BSX: which should you pick?
Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ABT if you believe its drivers more; BSX if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ABT and BSX guides.
ABT vs BSX: the full fundamentals
ABT. ABT's trailing GAAP P/E of about 34x is inflated by acquisition amortization and one-time costs from the Exact Sciences deal; on forward earnings the stock trades near 17x, well below its own 5-year and 10-year historical averages, after a roughly 16% decline in 2026. Revenue growth has remained positive, and the raised adjusted EPS guidance of $5.45-$5.60 implies a forward adjusted P/E of about 19x at the October 16 price of $104.44, below the average analyst target of about $121. Q3 2026 results are due October 21, with company guidance of $1.38-$1.46 adjusted EPS and consensus near $1.41 on about $13.0 billion of sales.
BSX. Boston Scientific's trailing P/E of roughly 18x and forward multiple near 13x are far below the sustained premium the stock carried during its high-growth phase. The compression followed a decline of about 55% over the past year, while the S&P 500 rose about 17%, driven by slowing growth, repeated outlook cuts, and the September cybersecurity disruption. Third-quarter results are due October 28, 2026, with consensus near $0.74 to $0.76 of adjusted EPS on revenue of about $5.1 billion, and the analyst mean target of about $59 sits well above the $44.06 share price, so the debate is whether the lower multiple reflects fair concern about decelerating growth or an over-correction.
Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): ABT shows revenue (ttm) ~$46.6 billion (Q2 2026 sales $12.59 billion, +13% reported, +4.8% comparable), revenue (fy 2025) ~$44.3 billion (+5.7% YoY), net income (ttm) ~$5.4 billion (GAAP EPS ~$3.10), net profit margin (ttm) ~11.7%; BSX shows revenue (ttm) ~$21 billion (+7.5% YoY in Q2 2026), revenue (fy 2025) ~$20.1 billion, net income (ttm) ~$3.7 billion (profit margin ~17.5%), adjusted eps (q2 2026) $0.86 vs $0.83 est..
The bottom line: ABT vs BSX
ABT and BSX are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ABT and BSX exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how ABT or BSX fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Abbott Laboratories with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how ABT fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between ABT and BSX?
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Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois, that discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products in more than 160 countries through four segments: Medical Devices, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Established Pharmaceutical Products. Boston Scientific Corporation is a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets minimally invasive devices used in interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, structural heart, peripheral interventions, endoscopy, urology, neuromodulation, and cardiac rhythm management. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is ABT or BSX the better stock?
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Neither is universally better. ABT is the larger incumbent; BSX is the smaller challenger and looks cheaper on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, ABT or BSX?
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On forward P/E (as of October 2026), ABT trades at 17.29x and BSX at 13.15x, so BSX is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both ABT and BSX?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of ABT vs BSX?
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ABT: The most acute near-term risk is infant formula litigation: juries have delivered verdicts including a $53 million compensatory award in late March 2026 and a separately upheld $495 million verdict, with hundreds of additional NEC-related cases pending, and a securities class action filed in 2026 adds a parallel legal exposure track targeting alleged investor misstatements. Abbott has started to narrow this exposure, reaching agreements in August 2026 to resolve a portion of the preterm-formula litigation and an agreement with the Department of Justice in September 2026 on claims tied to the 2022 recall, but the remaining liability is still open-ended. Integration of the approximately $21 billion Exact Sciences acquisition introduces execution risk, amortization and elevated SGA costs: GAAP EPS was only $0.53 in Q2 2026 against adjusted EPS of $1.31, and the trailing GAAP P/E is about 34x even though the forward multiple is about 17x. Organic growth also slowed to 4.8% in Q2 2026 on a comparable basis, below the full-year 6.5-7.5% guide. Foreign exchange swings move reported international revenue by several percentage points, and any meaningful dollar strengthening would pressure reported results disproportionately given Abbott's broad non-US exposure. Competitive disruption in continuous glucose monitoring from DexCom and emerging players, along with pricing pressure from government payers and the Inflation Reduction Act, represent structural long-term headwinds. BSX: The most immediate concern is a run of setbacks in 2026. Management lowered its profit outlook in July on weaker Watchman demand and US electrophysiology share losses, then in September said a cybersecurity incident had disrupted manufacturing and order shipments and that it was unlikely to meet its third-quarter and full-year sales and adjusted earnings forecasts. In October it recalled 262,686 Imager II angiographic catheters because the tip may fracture or detach during use, a reminder of the product-recall and safety-signal risk inherent to medical devices. Competition is intensifying as Medtronic and Johnson and Johnson scale their own pulsed field ablation systems, which could further erode Boston Scientific's early PFA share and pressure pricing. Brokers including Baird, Truist and Mizuho trimmed price targets in mid-October 2026. Foreign exchange swings, hospital capital-spending cycles, reimbursement or regulatory changes, about $12.6 billion of debt, and integration risk from the company's acquisition strategy each add uncertainty.
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Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell ABT or BSX; figures are approximate and dated (as of October 2026). Verify current data before investing.