Baxter (NYSE:BAX) posted first-quarter earnings today that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street, but its Q2 earnings outlook didn’t meet expectations.
The Deerfield, Ill.–based medtech giant — maker of renal care products, drug delivery devices and more — reported profits of $300 million, or 58¢ per share, on sales of $2.946 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2021, for a bottom-line slide of –9% on top-line growth of 5% compared with Q1 2020.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 76¢, 11¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking for EPS of 65¢ on sales of $2.9 billion.
“Baxter’s medically essential products are fundamental to healthcare, and many have proven pivotal in the fight against COVID-19,“ Baxter CEO José (Joe) E. Almeida said in a news release.
“Our life-sustaining portfolio, broad geographic reach and the ongoing momentum of our business transformation are all keys to our resilience. We are well-positioned to strengthen our impact in the year ahead, fueled by our innovative product pipeline, relentless focus on execution, and capital deployment opportunities to benefit patients, customers and investors.”
Baxter is projecting adjusted earnings per share of 72–75¢ on sales growth of 14–15% in Q2 and adjusted earnings per share of $3.47–3.55 on sales growth of 8–9% for the full year. Wall Street analysts, on average, have expected Q2 EPS of 78¢ and 2021 EPS of $3.40.
Investors reacted by sending BAX shares down more than –1% to $85.89 apiece in morning trading. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index, which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies, is down slightly.
