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BD (BDX) Gears Up for Q2 Earnings: What's in the Offing?

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Becton Dickinson and Company (BDX - Free Report) , popularly known as BD, is scheduled to report second-quarter fiscal 2022 results on May 5, before market opens.

In the last-reported quarter, the company’s earnings of $3.64 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 27.3%. Over the trailing four quarters, its earnings outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on all occasions, delivering an earnings surprise of 12.5%, on average.

Let’s see how things have shaped up for BDX prior to this announcement:

Factors to Note

BD Life Sciences

During the fiscal 2022 first-quarter earnings call, BD confirmed that it had witnessed lower COVID-only testing revenues, which led to a decline in the company’s Life Sciences segment. However, excluding COVID-only testing, Life Sciences base revenues recorded solid uptick, with strong licensing revenues in Integrated Diagnostic Solutions (“IDS”). The continued recovery in demand for specimen management products, microbiology solutions and combined flu/COVID-19 diagnostic tests, along with licensing revenues, is expected to have continued in the fiscal second quarter as well, thereby driving BD’s base business growth of IDS.

Further, continued robust demand for research solutions owing to recovery in lab activity and sustained COVID-19 research is likely to be another revenue driver for BD’s Biosciences business of the broader Life Sciences arm.

BD’s e-commerce site has also been seeing encouraging acceptance. The company expects this to have continued in the to-be-reported quarter, thereby contributing to revenues.

BD’s fiscal second-quarter revenues are also likely to be boosted by the availability of the BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 Test. The company has been registering strong growth in sales of BD MAX IVD assays over the past few months. These are expected to considerably boost the company’s revenues in the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

In December 2021, BD had added new distribution and retail partners with whom the BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 Test would be available. This is likely to have considerably driven the to-be-reported quarter’s revenues.

In February, BD completed the acquisition of Salamanca, Spain-based Cytognos. The buyout of Cytognos accelerates BD's strategy to support chronic disease management by expanding its portfolio of blood cancer diagnostics, immune assessment tests and informatics to boost patient outcome. In January, BD received the 510(k) clearance from the FDA for the BD Kiestra IdentifA system. The system has been developed to automate the preparation of microbiology bacterial identification testing. These developments raise our optimism about the stock.

However, the decline in COVID-only testing revenues is likely to weigh on BD’s Life Sciences segment.

BD Interventional

Sustained recovery in elective procedures, and advanced reconstruction and repair, with strength in hernia (as deferrable procedures rebound) are also likely to have contributed to segmental revenues in the fiscal second quarter despite some impacts from the Omicron variant. The buyouts of Tepha, Tissuemed, Ltd. and Venclose, Inc. also look promising for the stock.

Strength in biosurgery and growth in infection prevention are also likely to have been driven by the sustained recovery of deferrable procedures as well as market adoption of Sterile BD ChloraPrep during the to-be-reported quarter. BD’s Rotarex Atherectomy System, which had received the FDA’s 510(k) clearance for expanded indications in October 2021, is another likely driver of fiscal second-quarter top line.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal second-quarter BD Interventional revenues is pegged at $1.09 billion, suggesting an improvement of 7.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Other Factors to Note

BD is likely to have witnessed continued momentum in its Medical segment, attributable to strong demand for the company’s durable core products, particularly in the United States, driven by competitive gains in catheters and vascular care devices.

However, difficult prior-year comparison for BD’s business segments is likely to weigh on the company’s fiscal second-quarter revenues, thereby raising our apprehension.

The Estimate Picture

For second-quarter fiscal 2022, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.86 billion for total revenues implies a decline of 1% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $2.99, indicating a decline of 6.3% from the prior-year period’s reported number.

What Our Model Suggests

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for BD this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat.

Earnings ESP: BD has an Earnings ESP of +1.06%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Other Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few medical stocks worth considering, as these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle:

Meridian Bioscience, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +26.32% and a Zacks Rank of 2. Meridian Bioscience has an earnings yield of 5.5% compared with the industry’s 0.9%.

Meridian Bioscience’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 9.3%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Teleflex Incorporated (TFX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.43% and is a Zacks #2 Ranked stock. Teleflex has an estimated long-term growth rate of 13%.

Teleflex’s earnings surpassed estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 13.1%.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.87% and is a Zacks #2 Ranked stock. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an estimated long-term growth rate of 11.5%.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ earnings surpassed estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 10%.

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