Becton sees 2026 profit slightly above estimates amid ongoing market challenges

Audio By Carbonatix

By Padmanabhan Ananthan

(Reuters) -Medical device maker Becton Dickinson on Thursday topped Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit and forecast 2026 earnings slightly above expectations.

However, in a conference call, the company’s executives warned of persistent headwinds in China, softer vaccine demand and a ramp-down in its Alaris infusion pumps after record installations.

Becton, which makes medical supplies such as syringes, needles, IV catheters and devices that help safely deliver medicines, projected 2026 adjusted profit between $14.75 and $15.05 per share.

Analysts on average were expecting $14.85, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Despite steady demand for drug delivery products, RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh described the 2026 profit forecast as “underwhelming” while flagging pressures in its biosciences segment.

The China market has been “difficult to really call” and the company still expects about 80% of its portfolio there to be under volume-based procurement (VBP) by fiscal 2026, CEO Thomas Polen said.

After the planned Waters separation, China will be roughly 4% of its revenue, easing year-over-year comparisons and reducing exposure to the Asian country.

“We’ve built in a prudent approach to China and what we’ve seen in terms of VBP…we haven’t built any improvements in the macro environment into our outlook,”

Beijing’s VBP policies prompted the government to purchase medical supplies in high volumes for cheaper prices.

The planned sale of its biosciences unit to Waters Corp is expected to help Becton exit a tariff-sensitive segment, which is mostly reliant on pharmaceutical customers and government funding amid a funding crunch under President Donald Trump.

Becton’s adjusted profit came in at $3.96 per share in the quarter ended September 30, topping estimates of $3.92.

Its quarterly revenue was $5.89 billion, slightly below expectations of $5.90 billion.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)