BD (NYSE: BDX) posted second-quarter results today that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street, increasing its full-year guidance.
The medtech giant, however, also acknowledged that it’s seeing the COVID-19 delta variant impact elective procedure volumes in some U.S. states.
Franklin Lakes, N.J.–based BD reported profits of $525 million, or $1.72 per share, on sales of $4.89 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2021, for a bottom-line gain of 81.2 % and sales growth of 26.9% compared with Q2 2020.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $2.74, 30¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking EPS of $2.44 on sales of $4.51 billion.
“Our strong third-quarter results reflect continued momentum across our base business,” BD CEO Tom Polen said in a news release. “Solid execution by our teams has strengthened our foundation, while increased investment in R&D and tuck-in M&A are enhancing our innovation pipeline.”
Polen said the company will have more updates about its innovation-driven BD 2025 strategy during the company’s Nov. 12 Investor Day.
The company now expects 2021 revenues to grow about 16.5%-17.0%, up from the prior guidance of 12–14%, and adjusted EPS of $12.85–12.95, up from $12.75–12.85.
BD, however, also noted that its outlook continues to assume that the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer cause major system-wide hospital restrictions on elective procedures. At the same time, the company has started to see the delta variant of the coronavirus impact elective procedures in some U.S. states.
Investors reacted by sending BDX shares down more than –5% to $243.02 apiece in morning trading. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index, which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies, was down slightly.