Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Decline Wednesday Afternoon

01:48 PM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Healthcare stocks declined Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index down 0.7% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) falling 0.8%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.6%. In corporate news, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said Wednesday it plans to separate its Nutrition business into a publicly traded firm with about $8.5 billion in annual sales. Separately, Abbott reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.42, up from $1.30 a year ago and matching the FactSet consensus. Shares were down 3.7%. Opus Genetics (IRD) shares gained 4.2% after the firm said the US Food and Drug Administration cleared its investigational new drug application for OPGx-RDH12, a gene therapy candidate for a rare inherited disease that causes childhood vision loss. Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) shares rose 1.2% after the firm reported higher fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue. Danaher (DHR) shares added 2.6% after the company posted higher fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and sales, and raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance.