How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Becton Dickinson (BDX Quick QuoteBDX - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to BDX for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Becton Dickinson's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Becton Dickinson's main business drivers.

Based in Franklin Lakes, NJ, Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD, is a medical technology company engaged principally in the development, manufacture and sale of medical devices, instrument systems and reagents.

In fiscal 2021, BD’s revenues rose 18.3% to $20.25 billion.

Earlier, BD’s operations consisted of three business segments: BD Medical, BD Diagnostics and BD Biosciences. However, the company’s organizational structure was realigned to form two principal business segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences and BD Interventional.

BD Medical (25.4% of fiscal 2021 revenues): BD Medical’s major product lines include needles, syringes and intravenous catheters for medication delivery; prefilled IV flush syringes; syringes and pen needles for diabetes care; refillable drug delivery systems; regional anesthesia needles and trays; sharps disposal containers; closed-system transfer devices; and generic prefilled injectables.

BD Life Sciences (14.7% of fiscal 2021 revenues): BD Diagnostics provides products for the safe collection and transport of diagnostics specimens, as well as instruments and reagent systems to detect a broad range of infectious diseases, healthcare-associated infections and cancer.

BD Biosciences produces research and clinical tools that facilitate the study of cells to gain a better understanding of normal and disease processes.

With the acquisition of C.R. Bard, BD added a new segment — BD Interventional (14.1% of fiscal 2021 revenues) — in which C.R. Bard has been integrated.

Bottom Line

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Becton Dickinson ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in April 2012 would be worth $3,522.47, or a gain of 252.25%, as of April 8, 2022, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

The S&P 500 rose 221.89% and the price of gold increased 13.92% over the same time frame in comparison.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for BDX.

BD’s base revenue uptick and robust results by majority of its arms in first-quarter fiscal 2022 are impressive. Regulatory approvals and launches are encouraging. BD’s strategic deals augurs well. A raised outlook for full-fiscal year is also promising. A strong solvency position is an added plus. BD’s fiscal first-quarter results were better than expected. Over the past six months, BD has outperformed its industry. Yet, year-over-year falls in both top and bottom lines are disappointing. Fall in BD Life Science arm and both geographical areas are worrying. Lower COVID-only testing revenues are discouraging. Contraction of both margins does not bode well. BD’s operation in a highly consolidated medical technology industry is worrying. Other issues like BD’s operation in a stiff competitive space and forex woes prevail.

Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 6.13%, and there have been 2 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2022 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.