The industries' largest stock just posted its best earnings reaction of the 21st century.
July 17, 2026
Every Thursday at 1 p.m. ET, our analyst team gets together with Portfolio Accelerator members to talk about what we’re seeing in the market.
And yesterday, one chart stole the show.
Medical devices.
This group has been among the worst in healthcare for years.
And relative to the broader healthcare sector, medical devices have been in a brutal downtrend.
But that may finally be changing.
The ratio of medical devices to healthcare is back at a major level of interest.
This same area acted as resistance in the early 2010s, then flipped to support in 2016, ahead of a massive uptrend.
Now, after a significant drawdown, we're back at the scene of the crime.
In plain English, this is exactly where we would expect buyers to show up if medical devices are finally ready to stop lagging and start leading again.
And then Abbott Labs $ABT reported earnings.
*Click the image to enlarge it
Abbott reported a big double beat and rallied 10.7%, marking its best earnings reaction of the 21st century.
This made ABT the clear winner on Thursday’s Beat Sheet.
It matters even more because Abbott is the largest medical device name in the market, and it's happening right as the group is sitting at a major relative support level.
Abbott has been a mess for years.
The stock carved out a massive top, broke down earlier this year, and looked poised to crater back towards the 2020 low.
But sellers failed to finish the job.
Instead, ABT reclaimed the key $90 level, trapped the bears, and is now scooping-n-scoring back above former support.
So long as ABT stays above $90, the path of least resistance is higher for the foreseeable future.
The fundamentals also support the move.
Abbott reported $12.6 billion in second-quarter sales, adjusted EPS of $1.31, and raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance range to $5.45 to $5.60.
The medical devices business was the largest segment in the quarter at $5.9 billion in sales, and the company highlighted several important product wins across diabetes care, cardiovascular devices, and diagnostics.
That gives us the complete fusion analysis setup.
The technicals are improving, the fundamentals are solid, and earnings sentiment has just flipped significantly.
That's exactly the kind of alignment we look for at the Beat Report.
Now let’s look at the other side of the tape.
GE Aerospace $GE also reported a double beat, but the stock fell 4.1%.
This one is tricky because GE Aerospace is still one of the strongest industrial stocks in the world.
The company is a monster.
It has a backlog north of $210 billion, and the latest quarter showed strong growth across orders, revenue, EPS, and free cash flow.
Management also raised full-year guidance across the board.
This business is incredible, but the stock failed to rally on good news.
And that's the problem.
GE has now been punished for three consecutive earnings reports.
And this latest reaction knocked the stock back below $348, which was the breakout level from earlier this year.
So long as GE is below $348, the path of least resistance is sideways to lower for the foreseeable future.
That doesn't mean the long-term story is dead, but it does mean the stock needs more time.
And that's the difference between a great company and a great setup.
At the Beat Report, we don’t just ask whether a company beat expectations.
We ask three questions:
Are the technicals strong?
Are the fundamentals improving?
Is the market rewarding the stock for reporting earnings?
Right now, Abbott is checking those boxes, and GE Aerospace isn't.
And if medical devices are finally ready to rotate from laggard to leader, Abbott’s historic earnings reaction may be the first major clue.
If we put on a new trade, Beat Report members will be the first to know.
Join the Beat Report today to get our next trade alert, our current watchlist, and access to the stocks we believe have the strongest alignment across technicals, fundamentals, and earnings sentiment.
Cheers to the weekend,
-The Beat Team
Editor's Note: Grant Hawkridge just walked through his entire Green Light system live: the one number he reads before bed, the three steps behind it, and how it sidestepped the 2022 bear and the COVID drawdown.
If you missed it, the full replay is up now. Watch it here.
