Becton Dickinson (BDX) slumps after guidance disappoints investors

Shares of medical device maker Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) declined Thursday after it reported quarterly results, along with guidance for 2024. Its outlook was viewed was “well below” Wall Street expectations and a disappointment to investors.

Becton Dickinson reported earnings per share for its fourth quarter that were in-line with consensus at $3.42. Revenue was slightly better than expected, coming in at $5.1 billion, compared to the consensus of $5.02 billion.

For 2024, Becton Dickinson said its sees earnings per share of $12.70 to $13.00, worse than the consensus of $13.52. Its full year outlook also called for 2024 revenue of $20.1 billion to $20.3 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $20.36 billion.

The company's guidance was a "disappointment to investors," according to analysts at JPMorgan.

“While we’ve been saying since the F3Q call that FY24 numbers need to move lower, we don’t think investors were expecting a sub-$13.00 guide,” wrote JPMorgan's Robbie Marcus in a note to clients.

The analyst added, “We have maintained the view that Street forecasts for the next year were far too high given currency, a headwind that was better understood by the buy side, but a headwind of 375bps from Fx and underlying [constant currency] growth of 8.25-10.25% both came in worse than expected.”

Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar said the guidance could harm investors' view that Becton Dickinson shares are a “safe haven.”

“ ….BD expects 1Q org revs to be ~200 bps below the FY and OMs 350 bps below, resulting in -19% EPS declines YoY … and the optics of -20% EPS declines in 1Q make a dent to ‘safe haven’ thesis," said Kumar.

Shares of Becton Dickinson declined 8% shortly after its results were published. It was the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 index.

By Louis Juricic

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