Becton Dickinson (BDX)
Health Care · $49.5B market cap · SEC CIK 0000010795
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Nov 2, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $4.11 in earnings per share.
The case for BDX
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.24).
- Pays a modest 1.6% dividend.
The case against
- Earnings per share down 40.4%.
- Pricey at 52.6× earnings, against a long-run market average nearer 20×.
- Revenue slipped 2.6% on the year.
- Return on equity of only 4%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.87).
- Long-term debt of $16.9B against $740M of cash.
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. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 49 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 20 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 35 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 82 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 60 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 59 Health Care companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 52.6× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 1.71× |
| Price / sales | 2.4× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -2.6% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -40.4% |
| Gross margin | 47% |
| Operating margin | 10% |
| Net margin | 5% |
| Return on equity | 4% |
| Debt / equity | 0.69× |
| Current ratio | 0.87 |
| Dividend yield | 1.59% |
| Beta | 0.24 |
| 52-week range | $127.59 – $193.07 |
| Position in that range | 85% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +25.5% |
| 1-year return | +22.9% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Becton Dickinson's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $21.8B | $20.2B | $19.4B | $18.9B | $19.1B |
| Operating income | $2.6B | $2.4B | $2.1B | $2.3B | $2.3B |
| Net income | $1.7B | $1.7B | $1.5B | $1.8B | $2.1B |
| Operating cash flow | $3.4B | $3.8B | $3.0B | $2.5B | $4.6B |
| Capital expenditure | $760M | $725M | $874M | $973M | $1.2B |
| Total assets | $54.8B | $54.7B | $52.3B | $53.1B | $53.4B |
| Shareholder equity | $25.3B | $25.2B | $25.3B | $25.5B | $24.2B |
| Cash | $740M | $711M | $1.2B | $612M | $1.9B |
| Long-term debt | $16.9B | $17.4B | $14.1B | $14.3B | $16.4B |
| Free cash flow | $2.7B | $3.1B | $2.1B | $1.5B | $3.5B |
| Operating margin | 11.8% | 11.9% | 10.9% | 12.1% | 11.8% |
| Net margin | 7.7% | 8.4% | 7.7% | 9.4% | 10.9% |
| Diluted shares | 289M | 291M | 288M | 287M | 292M |
Share count is essentially flat over 4 years.
What Becton Dickinson says it does
" A global trend towards limiting growth of healthcare costs may also put industry-wide pressure on medical device or clinical diagnostic pricing. In the U.S., the Center for Medicaid Services ("CMS") has proposed the expansion of its Competitive Bidding Program ("CBP"). This proposed expansion would introduce a pricing model that could significantly influence the cost structure of some medical devices in the U.S. healthcare system; specifically, those reimbursed under CMS’ Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic, Orthotic and Supplies payment system. By leveraging supplier competition to establish payment rates, the CBP mirrors purchasing initiatives seen in international markets, where procurement strategies attempt to prioritize 16 Table of Contents cost-efficiency, which could lead to uncertainty with respect to innovation, quality and patient access challenges or supplier attrition, as seen in prior bidding cycles. In addition, we…
Risk factors BDX lists in its 10-K
- Increase (decrease) in current-year revenues
- Segment operating income as % of Medical revenues
- Segment operating income as % of Life Sciences revenues
- Segment operating income as % of Interventional revenues
- Integration, restructuring and transaction expense
- Other operating expense (income), net
- Other operating expense (income), net
- Gross profit margin % prior-year period
- Gross profit margin % current-year period
- Increase (decrease) in basis points
- Impact, in basis points, from specified items
- Net Income and Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations
- Increase (decrease) to fair value of interest rate derivatives outstanding
- Increase (decrease) to earnings or cash flows