BAX vs BDX Stock Comparison

Baxter International and Becton Dickinson Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BAX Baxter International Inc
$25.29 +8.2% 1M +9.9% 1Y
Market cap
$13.07B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.55B
Div. yield
0.16%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
2 wins
BDX Becton Dickinson & Co
$196.39 +6.8% 1M +5.7% 1Y
Market cap
$53.49B
P/E
57.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$23.25B
Div. yield
2.14%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
9 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Becton Dickinson leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Becton Dickinson 9, Baxter International 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBAXBDXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.07B $53.49B BDX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -12.3x 57.3x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.8x 15.1x BAX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -49.1% +17.4% BDX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -19.2% 4.0% BDX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.4% 5.3% BDX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.8x 3.2x BDX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.16% 2.14% BDX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.9% +5.7% BAX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -21.0%/yr -4.3%/yr BDX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.4% 31.9% BDX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 68/100 BDX

Percentile Scorecard

BAXBDX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBAXBDX
Valuation 86 #12 of 80 90 #9 of 80
Growth 29 #53 of 74 53 #35 of 74
Profitability 74 #18 of 67 80 #14 of 67
Financial Health 22 #71 of 91 26 #68 of 91
Shareholder Returns 38 #22 of 35 91 #4 of 35
Overall 50 68
  • BAX ranked among 95 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • BDX ranked among 95 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBAXBDXSPY
1 month +8.2%+6.8% -0.8%
3 months +8.4%+23.6% +3.5%
6 months +36.8%+30.7% +7.0%
Year to date +32.3%+1.2% +12.2%
1 year +9.9%+5.7% +13.0%
3 years -21.4%-21.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.7%-7.9% +23.1%
5 years -69.1%-19.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -21.0%-4.3% +11.0%
10 years -46.7%+17.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year -6.1%+1.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureBAXBDXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.4%31.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 48.2%33.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.160.34 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.220.18 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.3%-50.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.8%-6.5% -1.8%
52-week high $28.35$210.02 $779.14
52-week low $15.80$140.71 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBAXBDX
P/E now vs peer median -12.3xmedian 29.3x 57.3xmedian 29.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 2.6x 2.3xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.5xmedian 17.4x 14.0xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 19.6x 16.7xmedian 19.6x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.3x 2.2xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median -0.43median 0.84 -3.93median 0.84

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBAXBDX
Revenue $5.55B $23.25B
Gross profit $3.78B $10.91B
Operating income $532.00M $2.48B
Net income -$1.06B $941.00M
Free cash flow $839.00M $3.20B
R&D $542.00M $1.37B
EPS (diluted) $-2.05 $3.42
Cash & equivalents $2.15B $708.00M
Total debt $9.46B $72.81B
Shares (diluted) 518.00M 275.16M
Enterprise value $5.18B $50.64B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBAXBDX
P/E -12.3x 57.3x
P/FCF 15.6x 16.7x
P/Operating cash flow 9.7x 13.5x
P/S 2.4x 2.3x
P/B 2.1x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 6.1x 2.2x
EV/EBITDA 13.5x 14.0x
EV/EBIT 38.3x 28.0x
EV/Revenue 3.7x 3.0x
EV/FCF 24.3x 21.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.2x 17.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.43 -3.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBAXBDX
Revenue growth (1Y) -49.1% 17.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -23.5% 6.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.8% 23.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -5.2% 8.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -50.8% 13.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.5% 3.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -604.0% -40.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 28.0% -17.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -580.5% -38.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.6% -14.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 56.3% 43.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.8% 14.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 153.5% 54.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.5% 22.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBAXBDX
Gross margin 68.1% 46.9%
EBITDA margin 27.3% 21.4%
Operating margin 9.6% 10.7%
Pretax margin 5.1% 8.4%
Net margin -19.2% 4.0%
FCF margin 15.1% 13.8%
Operating cash flow margin 24.2% 17.0%
Return on equity -17.4% 3.9%
Return on assets -5.4% 1.9%
Return on invested capital 3.4% 5.3%
Return on capital employed 3.3% 6.0%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -1.3x 4.2x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBAXBDX
Debt / assets 47.8% 33.1%
Debt / equity 1.5x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.8x 3.2x
Debt / FCF 11.3x 5.2x
Liabilities / assets 68.6% 51.9%
Equity / assets 31.4% 48.1%
Interest coverage – 4.2x
Current ratio 1.9x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.1x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.13 2.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBAXBDX
Dividend yield 0.2% 2.1%
Net buyback yield -0.2% 4.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 6.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) -17.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 21.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -60.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -32.0% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBAXBDX
Forward P/E 12.8xFY2026 15.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.98FY2026 $12.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.4%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.5% -2.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.05BFY2026 $18.11BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.7%FY2026 -17.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.7% +11.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBAXBDX
Held by institutions 100.0% 96.1%
Institutions holding 690 1,442
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.2% +0.6%
Institutions buying 359 688
Institutions selling 193 543
Buyers to sellers 1.86 1.27

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BAXBDX
BAX 1.00 0.39
BDX 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BAX and BDX?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Baxter International (BAX) $13.07B, Becton Dickinson (BDX) $53.49B.

Which company is growing faster?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Baxter International (BAX) -49.1%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) +17.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) has the highest net margin (Baxter International (BAX) -19.2%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 4.0%). On return on invested capital, Becton Dickinson (BDX) leads (Baxter International (BAX) 3.4%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 5.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Baxter International (BAX) returned the most: Baxter International (BAX) +9.9%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) +5.7%. Over five years, Becton Dickinson (BDX) compounded fastest (Baxter International (BAX) -21.0%/yr, Becton Dickinson (BDX) -4.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) has the highest dividend yield: Baxter International (BAX) 0.16%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 2.14%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Becton Dickinson (BDX) has been the steadiest (Baxter International (BAX) 44.4%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 31.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do BAX and BDX move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.39, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, BAX and BDX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Becton Dickinson (BDX) leads on 9. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.