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Here's Why You Should Retain BD (BDX) Stock in Your Portfolio

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Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX - Free Report) , popularly known as BD, is well-poised for growth in the coming quarters, courtesy of a few product launches over the past few months. The optimism led by a solid second-quarter fiscal 2023 performance, along with a few regulatory approvals, is expected to contribute further. Forex woes and significant consolidation persist.

Over the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has gained 6.1% compared with the 18.6% rise of the industry and 16.4% growth of the S&P 500.

The renowned medical technology company has a market capitalization of $71.21 billion. It projects 10.1% growth for the next five years and expects to maintain its strong performance. BD has delivered an earnings surprise of 5.8% for the past four quarters, on average.

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Let’s delve deeper.

Regulatory Approvals: BD has been progressing impressively on the regulatory front, raising our optimism. In May, BD received the FDA’s 510(k) clearance for the new BD Kiestra Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus imaging application.

At the time of its second-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings release in May, BD confirmed that its BD Life Sciences segment’s Integrated Diagnostic Solutions business unit filed for US regulatory clearance of BD MiniDraw.

Product Launches: We are upbeat about BD’s slew of product launches in recent times. In May, the company announced expanded customer availability of an all-in-one prefilled flush syringe with an integrated disinfection unit designed to reinforce compliance with infection prevention guidelines and simplify nursing workflow.

The same month, BD announced the worldwide commercial launch of a new-to-world cell sorting instrument, BD FACSDiscover S8 Cell Sorter, featuring two breakthrough technologies (BD SpectralFX Technology and BD CellView Image Technology).

Strong Q2 Results: BD’s solid second-quarter fiscal 2023 results buoy our optimism. The company registered solid top-line and bottom-line results, along with improvements in the overall base revenues. Robust performances by the majority of its segments and both geographic regions were seen. Strength in BD’s segment’s business units during the reported quarter was also witnessed. The expansion of both margins bodes well.

Downsides

Significant Consolidation: The medical technology industry has been experiencing a significant amount of consolidation, resulting in companies with greater scale and market presence than BD. As a result, competition among medical device suppliers to provide goods and services has increased. Further consolidation in the industry could intensify competition among medical device suppliers and exert additional pressure on the demand for and prices of BD’s products.

Forex Woes: BD generates a substantial amount of its revenues from international operations. The revenues BD report with respect to its operations outside the United States may be adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. BD cannot predict with any certainty changes in foreign currency exchange rates or the degree to which it can mitigate such risks.

Estimate Trend

BD is witnessing a positive estimate revision trend for fiscal 2023. In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings has moved 0.4% north to $12.19.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s third-quarter fiscal 2023 revenues is pegged at $4.83 billion, suggesting a 3.9% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s reported number.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Hologic, Inc. (HOLX - Free Report) , Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (MMSI - Free Report) and Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX - Free Report) .

Hologic, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an estimated growth rate of 5.1% for fiscal 2024. HOLX’s earnings surpassed estimates in all the trailing four quarters, the average being 27.3%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Hologic has gained 15.6% compared with the industry’s 14.3% rise in the past year.

Merit Medical, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 11%. MMSI’s earnings surpassed estimates in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 20.2%.

Merit Medical has gained 60.6% compared with the industry’s 18.6% rise over the past year.

Boston Scientific, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 11.5%. BSX’s earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed in the other two, the average surprise being 1.9%.

Boston Scientific has gained 45.3% against the industry’s 23.7% decline over the past year.

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