BDX vs BAX Stock Comparison

Becton Dickinson and Baxter International Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BDX Becton Dickinson & Co
$198.85 +8.8% 1M +6.6% 1Y
Market cap
$53.59B
P/E
57.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$23.25B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
8 wins
BAX Baxter International Inc
$25.31 +7.7% 1M +10.1% 1Y
Market cap
$13.01B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.55B
Div. yield
0.01%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Becton Dickinson leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Becton Dickinson 8, Baxter International 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBDXBAXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $53.59B $13.01B BDX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 57.0x -12.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.3x 12.8x BAX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.4% -49.1% BDX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.0% -19.2% BDX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.3% 3.4% BDX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 4.8x BDX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.6% +10.1% BAX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.3%/yr -21.0%/yr BDX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.8% 44.3% BDX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 44/100 BDX

Percentile Scorecard

BDXBAX

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

AxisBDXBAX
Valuation 89 #25 of 228 83 #40 of 228
Growth 48 #117 of 222 18 #182 of 222
Profitability 78 #48 of 210 72 #59 of 210
Financial Health 26 #178 of 241 18 #197 of 241
Shareholder Returns 95 #8 of 138 27 #101 of 138
Overall 67 44
  • BDX ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • BAX ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBDXBAXSPY
1 month +8.8%+7.7% -1.0%
3 months +27.2%+13.0% +2.9%
6 months +30.7%+39.4% +6.4%
Year to date +2.5%+32.4% +11.4%
1 year +6.6%+10.1% +13.1%
3 years -23.3%-22.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year -8.5%-8.1% +21.5%
5 years -19.5%-69.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year -4.3%-21.0% +10.9%
10 years +15.4%-47.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +1.4%-6.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBDXBAXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.8%44.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 33.1%48.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.341.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.210.23 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.4%-82.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.3%-10.7% -2.5%
52-week high $210.02$28.35 $779.14
52-week low $140.71$15.80 $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.

MultipleBDXBAX
P/E now vs peer median 58.1xmedian 30.7x -12.3xmedian 30.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 3.0x 2.4xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 17.7x 13.5xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 23.7x 15.6xmedian 23.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 2.4x 2.1xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -3.98median 0.96 -0.43median 0.96

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 monthsBDXBAX
Revenue $23.25B $5.55B
Gross profit $10.91B $3.78B
Operating income $2.48B $532.00M
Net income $941.00M -$1.06B
Free cash flow $3.20B $839.00M
R&D $1.37B $542.00M
EPS (diluted) $3.42 $-2.05
Cash & equivalents $708.00M $2.15B
Total debt $72.81B $9.46B
Shares (diluted) 275.16M 518.00M
Enterprise value $50.74B $5.14B

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
MetricBDXBAX
P/E 58.1x -12.3x
P/FCF 16.9x 15.6x
P/Operating cash flow 13.7x 9.7x
P/S 2.3x 2.4x
P/B 2.2x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 6.1x
EV/EBITDA 14.1x 13.5x
EV/EBIT 28.3x 38.3x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 3.7x
EV/FCF 21.9x 24.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.8x 15.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.98 -0.43

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBDXBAX
Debt / assets 33.1% 47.8%
Debt / equity 0.7x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 4.8x
Debt / FCF 5.2x 11.3x
Liabilities / assets 51.9% 68.6%
Equity / assets 48.1% 31.4%
Interest coverage 4.2x –
Current ratio 0.9x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.3x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 2.31 2.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBDXBAX
Dividend yield 2.1% 0.2%
Net buyback yield 4.6% -0.2%
Shareholder yield 6.7% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusBDXBAX
Forward P/E 15.3xFY2026 12.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.99FY2026 $1.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 -10.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.0% -3.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.11BFY2026 $11.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -17.1%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.7% +11.7%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

BDXBAX
BDX 1.00 0.39
BAX 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BDX and BAX?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Becton Dickinson (BDX) $53.59B, Baxter International (BAX) $13.01B.

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Baxter International (BAX) returned the most: Becton Dickinson (BDX) +6.6%, Baxter International (BAX) +10.1%. Over five years, Becton Dickinson (BDX) compounded fastest (Becton Dickinson (BDX) -4.3%/yr, Baxter International (BAX) -21.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Becton Dickinson (BDX) 0.00%, Baxter International (BAX) 0.01%. Becton Dickinson (BDX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Becton Dickinson (BDX) has been the steadiest (Becton Dickinson (BDX) 31.8%, Baxter International (BAX) 44.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do BDX and BAX 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, BDX and BAX?

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 8. 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.