Becton Dickinson Q4 Profit Tops Estimates

Becton Dickinson and Co BDX reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter on Wednesday. The Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based company reported quarterly net income of $181 million, or $0.84 per share, compared to $301 million, or $1.53 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $1.94 per share. Its revenue surged 38.9 percent to $3.059 billion, while adjusted revenue climbed 39.3 percent to $3.067 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.90 per share on revenue of $3.04 billion. The average estimate among 8 Estimize users was for earnings of $1.94 per share and revenue of $3.07 billion. Worldwide adjusted revenue in the BD Medical segment surged 75.3 percent year-over-year to $2.091 billion, while revenue in the BD Life Sciences segment slipped 3.3 percent to $976 million. Adjusted revenue in the U.S. surged 88.3 percent to $1.640 billion, while revenue outside of the U.S. rose 7.2 percent to $1.427 billion. "Fiscal 2015 was a significant year for BD with the successful completion of the largest acquisition in the Company's history," said Vincent A. Forlenza, Chairman, CEO and President. "We are very proud of our strong fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 results, which exceeded our expectations. We enter fiscal 2016 with continued confidence in our ability to execute our strategy, deliver against our financial commitments, and return value to our shareholders." For the full year, Becton Dickinson projects earnings of $8.37 to $8.44 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $8.39 per share. It expects revenue growth of 23 percent to 23.5 percent. Becton Dickinson shares rose 1.26 percent to close at $146.63 yesterday.