Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday reported a 7.2% rise in quarterly sales on strong demand for diagnostics products, including its COVID-19 tests, led by a sharp surge in cases due to the Omicron variant.

The company's net earnings fell to $1.99 billion, or $1.11 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $2.16 billion, $1.20 per share, a year earlier.

Sales of the company were $11.5 billion, higher than the $10.7 billion reported in the year-ago period.