BD Stock Dips in Pre-Market Despite Q1 Earnings Beat, Margins Up

Becton, Dickinson and Company BDX, popularly known as BD, delivered adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.91 in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, down 15.2% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.4%.

The adjustments include expenses related to purchase accounting adjustments and restructuring costs, among others.

GAAP EPS for the quarter was $1.34, reflecting an uptick of 28.8% from the year-ago figure.

BDX’s Revenues in Detail

BD registered revenues of $5.25 billion in the fiscal first quarter, up 1.6% year over year on a reported basis. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%.

At constant exchange rate (CER), revenues climbed 0.4% year over year.

Robust performances by the majority of the segments drove the top-line improvement.

New BD revenues (which reflect the separation of its Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions business and combination with Waters Corp.) were $4.49 billion, up 3.5% and 2.5% on a reported basis and at CER, respectively.

Shares of this company lost nearly 3.9% in today’s pre-market trading.

BD’s Segment Details

Effective Oct. 1, 2025, BD reorganized its organizational units into five distinct, separately-managed segments, which are based on the nature of its product and service offerings.

In the quarter under review, Medical Essentials segment reported revenues of $1.59 billion, up 0.6% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis, but down 0.6% at CER.

Revenues in the Connected Care segment totaled $1.13 billion, up 5.5% year over year on a reported basis and 4.7% at CER.

BioPharma Systems segment generated revenues of $429 million, up 2.7% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis and 1% at CER.

BD Interventional segment generated revenues of $1.33 billion, up 5.8% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis and 5.1% at CER.

BD Life Sciences segment generated revenues of $766 million, down 8.3% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis and 10.5% at CER.

BDX’s Geographic Results

In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, revenues in the United States improved 2.6% year over year to $3.16 billion.

International revenues grossed $2.09 billion, up 0.2% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis, but down 2.8% at CER.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Becton, Dickinson and Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Becton, Dickinson and Company Quote

BD’s Margin Analysis

In the quarter under review, BD’s gross profit increased 7.9% year over year to $2.41 billion. The gross margin expanded 266 basis points (bps) to 45.9%.

Selling and administrative expenses increased 5.7% year over year to $1.39 billion. Research and development expenses decreased 10.8% year over year to $306 million. Adjusted operating expenses of $1.69 billion rose 2.3% year over year.

Adjusted operating profit totaled $712 million, reflecting a 24% increase from the year-ago quarter. The adjusted operating margin in the fiscal first quarter expanded 245 bps to 13.6%.

BDX’s Financial Position

BD exited first-quarter fiscal 2026 with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $751 million compared with $649 million at the fiscal 2025-end. Total debt (including current debt obligations) at the end of the fiscal first quarter was $19.54 billion compared with $19.18 billion at the fiscal 2025-end.

Net cash provided by continuing operating activities at the end of first-quarter fiscal 2026 was $657 million compared with $693 million a year ago.

Meanwhile, BD has a consistent dividend-paying history, with its five-year annualized dividend growth being 5.47%.

BD’s Fiscal 2026 Guidance

BD has provided guidance for fiscal 2026 for New BD.

BD projects its full fiscal year revenues to grow above low single-digit on a reported basis, while it expects them to grow at low single-digit at CER.

For the full fiscal year, adjusted EPS is anticipated to be in the range of $12.35-$12.65. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $14.84.

Our Take on BD

BD exited the first quarter of fiscal 2026 with better-than-expected results and solid top-line results. Robust performances by the majority segments and both geographic regions on a reported basis were encouraging. The expansion of both margins bodes well.

Apart from these, there were a few other developments during the recent period. BD announced a collaboration that allows facilities to combine rapid, point-of-care qualitative results from the BD HD Check System with ChemoGLO's LC-MS/MS analysis to expand hazardous drug contamination testing for health care facilities and laboratories and an expanded partnership with Ypsomed to address the rapidly growing biologics market through development of a 5.5 mL version of the BD Neopak XtraFlow Glass Prefillable Syringe that is designed to be fully compatible with Ypsomed's YpsoMate 5.5 autoinjector platform. The company also expanded the PureWick portfolio with the PureWick Portable Collection System. It also announced the expansion of the BD Surgiphor Surgical Wound Irrigation System to Europe to help hospitals improve patient safety. These raise our optimism about the stock.

However, lower revenues from Medical Essentials and BD Life Sciences segments and the international revenues at CER were disappointing.

BD’s Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

BDX currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH, Doximity, Inc. DOCS and DaVita Inc. DVA.

Cardinal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.63, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.9%. Revenues of $65.63 billion outpaced the consensus mark by 0.9%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Cardinal Health has a long-term estimated growth rate of 14.8%. CAH’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.3%.

Doximity reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of 46 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.6%. Revenues of $185.1 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Doximity has a long-term estimated growth rate of 19%. DOCS’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 19.9%.

DaVita reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS of $3.40, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.1%. Revenues of $3.62 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.7%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

DaVita has a long-term estimated growth rate of 20.2%. DVA’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 1.2%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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