Baxter International (BAX)

Health Care · $13.3B market cap · SEC CIK 0000010456

Next reports on Feb 10, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $0.60 in earnings per share.

52-week range $15.73 to $30.00. 12% below its 52-week high and 68% above its low.

The case for BAX

• Pays a 3.2% dividend while you wait.
• Moves less than the market (beta 0.61).
• Up 46.7% over the past year.

The case against

• Losing money over the last year: net margin −6.2%, return on equity −12%.
• Long-term debt of $9.4B would take 11 years of operating cash flow to repay.
• Pays a dividend while losing money over the last twelve months.
• Revenue has shrunk 0.8% a year over five years.
• Value is weak (12/100): no earnings to pay for, 1.1× sales, 2.5% free-cash yield.

What the score is made of

Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Health Care companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.

• It is losing money, so it has no P/E; that counts against value rather than being skipped.
• Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 59 Health Care companies.

The financials

The financials, five years deep

Pulled from Baxter International's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.

What Baxter International says it does

Company Overview Baxter International Inc., through our subsidiaries, provides a broad portfolio of essential healthcare products, including sterile intravenous (IV) solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; inhaled anesthetics; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; surgical hemostat and sealant products; advanced surgical equipment; smart bed systems; patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies; and respiratory health devices. These products are used by hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, ambulatory surgery centers, doctors’ offices, kidney dialysis centers and patients at home under physician supervision. Our global footprint and the critical nature of our products and services play a key role in expanding access to healthcare in emerging and developed countries. As of December 31, 2025, after giving effect to the sale of our Kidney Care business (as discussed below), we manufactured…

Risk factors BAX lists in its 10-K

• We are exposed to risks as a result of our strategic actions
• We may not achieve the anticipated benefits of our significant transactions, including the sale of our Kidney Care business and our acquisition of Hillrom
• Our significant indebtedness requires us to use a substantial amount of our cash flow for debt service and constrains our ability to pursue growth strategies
• There is substantial competition in the product markets in which we operate and the risk of declining demand and pricing pressures could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows
• We may be unable to successfully introduce or monetize new and existing products or services or keep pace with changing consumer preferences and needs or advances in technology
• We may not achieve our financial goals
• We have experienced disruptions in our supply chain
• Global economic conditions, including inflation, have adversely affected, and could continue to adversely affect, our operations
• Our operating results and financial condition have fluctuated and may in the future continue to fluctuate
• Management transition creates uncertainties, and any difficulties we experience in managing such transitions, including attracting and retaining our key employees, could adversely affect our business and results of operations
• Changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates have had, and may in the future have, an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, and liquidity
• Future material impairments in the value of our goodwill, intangible assets, and other long-lived assets would negatively affect our operating results
• Segments of our business are significantly
• dependent on major contracts with GPOs, IDNs, and certain other distributors and purchasers
• We may be unable to obtain sufficient components or raw materials on a timely basis or for a cost-effective price
• We may experience manufacturing, sterilization, supply, or distribution difficulties
• We have experienced and may continue to experience issues with quality management or product quality
• We may experience breaches and breakdowns affecting our information technology systems or protected information, including from obsolescence, cyber security breaches and data leakage
• We are exposed to risks associated with incorporating AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies into our products, services and operations
• We are subject to risks associated with doing business globally
• A portion of our workforce is unionized, and we could face labor
• disruptions that would interfere with our operations
• We are subject to laws and regulations globally, and our failure to comply with rapidly changing and increasingly divergent expectations of regulators in different jurisdictions could adversely impact the company
• If reimbursement or other payment for our current or future products is reduced or modified in the U.S. or in foreign countries, including through the implementation or repeal of government-sponsored healthcare
• reform or other similar actions, cost containment measures, or there are changes to policies with respect to pricing, taxation, or rebates, our business could suffer
• and expanding laws relating to, privacy, AI, and cybersecurity could impact our business and expose us to increased liability
• We are party to a number of pending lawsuits and other disputes which may adversely impact us
• We could be subject to fines or damages and possible exclusion from participation in federal or state healthcare programs if we fail to comply with the laws and regulations applicable to our business
• We may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax liabilities
• Our Amended and Restated Bylaws could limit our stockholders’ ability to choose their preferred judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees
• We recently decreased our quarterly dividend to $0.01 per share and cannot guarantee that we will increase the amount of dividends we pay, or that we will not cease paying dividends
• Our common stock price has fluctuated significantly and may continue to do so in the future

Filings

Other Health Care companies