Becton Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX) on Monday reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.91 per share, beating the consensus of $2.81.
The company reported sales of $5.25 billion, slightly above the consensus of $5.15 billion.
Guidance
The company is providing guidance for fiscal year 2026 for New BD, reflecting the separation of its Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions businesses and the combination with Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT).
Becton Dickinson lowers fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings guidance from $14.75-$15.05 per share to $12.35-$12.65 per share compared to the consensus of $14.72.
RBC Cuts Price Target
RBC Capital Markets lowered its price forecast for Becton Dickinson from $210 to $172, citing “We see FY26 as a transition year.”
RBC said that the updated price forecast reflects the Waters deal dynamics. The analyst models organic revenue growth of 2.5% in fiscal 2026 and 2.4% in fiscal 2027; and EPS growth of 6.0% in fiscal 2026 and 6.9% in fiscal 2027.
Analyst Shagun Singh on Monday said that despite the lower-than-expected fiscal second quarter guide, the fiscal 2026 guide was kept intact as business trends are playing out as expected, including headwinds (~250bps), including the three areas of headwinds (~250bps in China, Vaccines, and Alaris headwinds), making fiscal 2026 a transition year.
For the second quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $2.72 to $2.82 per share.
Analyst Singh added, “We are encouraged by the Q1 print even as BD navigates several business headwinds,” and maintains the Sector Perform rating for the company.
All said, Becton Dickinson’s growth recovery back into mid-single digits is yet to be proven out, but ~90% of its business is currently delivering mid-single digits.
On M&A, RBC highlighted that the company’s management is focused on tuck-in M&A (not transformational M&A), and their pipeline is robust and focused on accretive M&A.
Other Analysts Update
Wells Fargo maintains Becton Dickinson with an Equal-Weight and lowers the price target from $184 to $157.
Piper Sandler reiterates BD with a Neutral and lowers the price target from $205 to $170.
Citigroup maintains BD with a Buy and lowers the price target from $233 to $232.
BDX Price Action: Becton Dickinson shares were down 17.44% at $171.23 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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