Becton Dickinson joins peer in raising annual profit forecast after results beat

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(Reuters) -Becton Dickinson raised its forecast for annual profit on Thursday, after beating Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit and sales on strong demand for its drug-delivery devices.

Shares of New Jersey-based medical device maker rose 9.8% in premarket trading.

Becton manufactures and distributes medical and surgical products such as needles, syringes and disposal units.

Medical devices makers have benefited from elevated demand for non-urgent surgical procedures in the U.S., especially among older adults, since the second half of 2023.

The trend is expected to continue this year, after health insurers have also flagged sustained high demand for medical care. Last month, larger medical device peer Boston Scientific raised its annual profit forecast, buoyed by strong demand for its heart devices.

Lab equipment maker Waters Corp last month agreed to buy a bioscience and diagnostics unit spun off from Becton in a deal valued at $17.5 billion, expanding its scale in clinical and diagnostic applications.

Becton now expects its 2025 adjusted profit per share between $14.30 to $14.45, compared with its prior range of $14.06 to $14.34.

It reaffirmed its annual revenue to be between $21.8 billion and $21.9 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $21.83 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company reported a profit of $3.68 per share on an adjusted basis for the quarter ended June 30, beating estimates of $3.40 per share.

Quarterly sales for the company came in at $5.51 billion, above estimates of $5.49 billion.

Sales from its medical unit, which makes devices to administer drugs, rose 14.4% to $2.93 billion. Analysts on average estimated $2.91 billion.

(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)