Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.850-2.050 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.930. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.2 billion-$11.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.3 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BAX. Citigroup dropped their target price on Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Baxter International from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Baxter International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Baxter International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.80.

Baxter International Price Performance

Shares of BAX traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $17.32. 5,432,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,803,112. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Baxter International has a 52-week low of $15.73 and a 52-week high of $32.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.69. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.62.

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Baxter International had a negative net margin of 8.51% and a positive return on equity of 16.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Baxter International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.850-2.050 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Baxter International will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Baxter International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Baxter International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2.16%.

Institutional Trading of Baxter International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAX. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Baxter International by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,436 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Baxter International by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 649,463 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,666,000 after purchasing an additional 18,439 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Baxter International by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,638,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $231,304,000 after purchasing an additional 97,687 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Baxter International by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 24,356 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Baxter International by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,933 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.19% of the company’s stock.

Baxter International Company Profile

Baxter International Inc is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products, pharmaceutical therapies and biotechnology-based solutions. The company’s primary business activities are organized around renal care, medication delivery, acute therapies, pharmacy automation, surgical care and biotechnology. Baxter’s offerings are designed to support patient care in hospitals, dialysis centers, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities worldwide.

In the renal care segment, Baxter provides hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis systems, water treatment equipment and related disposables, including dialyzers, bloodlines and catheters.