Sector Update: Healthcare

09:01 AM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks were mixed premarket Wednesday, with the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) declining by 0.8% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) 0.2% higher Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said it intends to separate its Nutrition business into an independent, publicly traded company with about $8.5 billion in annual sales. The company also reported higher Q3 adjusted earnings and sales. Shares of Abbott Laboratories were down more than 4% pre-bell.