NEW YORK – Becton Dickinson on Thursday reported a 27 percent year-over-year increase in its fiscal third quarter revenues due to performance in its base business attributed in part to recovery in healthcare utilization levels from the initial impacts of COVID-19.
For the three months ended June 30, the medical technology company posted $4.89 billion in revenues, up from $3.86 billion in the year-ago quarter and above analysts’ average estimate of $4.51 billion.
"Our strong third quarter results reflect continued momentum across our base business," BD CEO Tom Polen said in a statement.
Revenues from BD's medical segment were $2.38 billion during the quarter, an increase of 12 percent from $2.12 billion last year, impacted in part by US demand for catheters and vascular care products as well as global demand for COVID-19 vaccine syringes.
BD life sciences revenues totaled $1.43 billion, up 51 percent from $951 million in the prior-year quarter. Within life sciences, integrated diagnostic solutions revenue was $1.12 billion, up 56 percent from $714 million last year. Biosciences revenues were $316 million, up 33 percent from $237 million last year.
The firm noted that integrated diagnostic solutions revenue growth included $300 million in sales related to COVID-19 diagnostic testing on the BD Veritor Plus and BD Max Systems, versus $98 million in the prior year, and reflected a continued recovery in demand for specimen management products and microbiology. Biosciences revenue growth, meanwhile, reflected continued strong demand for instruments and research reagents, BD said.
On a call with investors to recap the earnings, CFO Chris Reidy said that the $300 million in COVID-19 sales mainly comprised $212 million from Veritor, with the remaining $88 million from BD Max products, sample collection and transport solutions, and swabs.
Polen also noted on the call that the firm expects to begin shipping combination COVID-19 and influenza assays on its BD Veritor rapid immunoassay and BD Max PCR systems this month. Regarding the Veritor rapid test in particular, "we see the combination test becoming the standard of care moving forward, advancing our strategy to enable better outcomes in non-acute settings," Polen said.
Within the biosciences business, the firm launched a new "e-commerce" website for flow cytometry customers, and it expects to advance a number of new products, including the FACSymphony A5 SE — a spectral analyzer — and the FACSymphony A1 — a benchtop system. The firm is also seeing increased demand for research reagents and instruments, particularly in academic and biopharma vaccine research, Reidy said.
BD interventional revenues were $1.08 billion during the quarter, up 38 percent from $782 million a year ago, in part reflecting a continued recovery in elective procedure volumes versus the prior-year period.
Revenues from BD's US business were $2.57 billion for the quarter, up 22 percent from $2.12 billion last year. Revenues from international markets totaled $2.32 billion, up 34 percent from $1.74 billion in the prior year period.
In the quarter, BD acquired Velano Vascular and obtained CE mark for a human papillomavirus screening assay using at-home self-collected vaginal samples.
The company's net income applicable to its common shareholders for the quarter was $502 million, or $1.72 per share, up from $277 million, or $.97 per share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted EPS was $2.74, beating the consensus analyst estimate of $2.44.
BD's R&D expenses for the quarter were $344 million, up 31 percent from $262 million in fiscal Q3 2020, while selling and administrative expenses totaled $1.24 billion, up 26 percent from $980 million last year.
The firm ended the quarter with $3.15 billion in cash and cash equivalents, $128 million in restricted cash, and $24 million in short-term investments. On the call, Polen noted that BD also repurchased $1 billion in stock at an average price of approximately $242 in the quarter. "This marks the first time we have repurchased shares since 2017, and the largest amount we have repurchased since 2012."
The company had previously guided for full fiscal year 2021 revenue growth of 12 percent to 14 percent, and adjusted diluted EPS to be between $12.75 and $12.85. It now expects full fiscal year 2021 revenues to grow approximately 16.5 percent to 17.0 percent on a reported basis, and for adjusted diluted EPS to be between $12.85 and $12.95.
BD's shares were down nearly 5 percent at $242.91 in Thursday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.