One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$27.75 our estimate vs market $23.00
Wall Street consensus: $27.67 (-0.3% lower than our fair-value estimate)
17% below our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Baxter International Inc.
BAX · NYQ · Healthcare · Medical Instruments & Supplies
Current price
$23.00
52-week range
$15.73 - $30.00
Market cap
$11.90B
Balance sheet
Distressed
0.61x Concerning
Net debt $6.83B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 3.3% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Reward Dividend yield is 0.2% with 45-year payout history.
- Risk Return on equity was -9.0% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
What this company does
Baxter International Inc.
Baxter International is a healthcare company that makes essential medical products used every day in hospitals, clinics, and even patients' homes. They sell a wide range of items, from IV bags and infusion pumps to surgical tools and smart hospital beds. Because these products are fundamental to patient care and are often used continuously, the company benefits from consistent demand from its customers around the world.
How the company got here
Founded in 1931 by Dr. Donald Baxter, the company started by selling intravenous (IV) solutions to hospitals in the Midwest. A key moment was in 1939 when they developed a new way to collect and store blood, extending its shelf life from hours to weeks and making blood banks possible. Over the years, Baxter grew by creating new products, like the first artificial kidney, and by acquiring other companies to expand its reach in hospitals worldwide. More recently, Baxter acquired a company called Hillrom to add smart hospital beds and patient monitoring to its offerings, and it has been selling off parts of its business to focus more on hospital-based care.
What it actually does
Baxter makes and sells a wide range of medical products that are used in hospitals, clinics, and even at home under a doctor's care. Think of the essential items you would see in a hospital room: IV bags and the pumps that deliver fluids and medicine, smart hospital beds that help monitor patients, and equipment for surgery. They also provide therapies for patients with kidney disease and a variety of injectable drugs used in hospitals. Essentially, Baxter provides the critical infrastructure and supplies that doctors and nurses use every day to take care of patients.
Medical Products & Therapies
This is a core part of Baxter's business, providing many of the fundamental tools for patient care. It includes things like sterile IV solutions for hydration, infusion systems (the pumps and tubes used to deliver fluids and drugs to patients), and products for advanced surgery. Hospitals and clinics buy these products to use in their daily operations. This segment represents a significant and steady part of the company's business because these are supplies that are constantly being used.
Healthcare Systems & Technologies
This segment focuses on connecting different aspects of patient care through technology. A major part of this business came from the acquisition of Hillrom, which brought in products like smart hospital beds, patient monitoring systems, and diagnostic tools. These are not just simple beds, but systems that can track a patient's movement and vital signs to help nurses provide better care. Hospitals purchase these systems to improve patient safety and make their staff more efficient.
Pharmaceuticals
This part of the company produces a variety of injectable drugs that are essential in hospital settings. This includes things like inhaled anesthetics for surgery, as well as other generic injectable drugs used for pain management and critical care. These are sold to hospitals and other healthcare providers. While not the largest part of Baxter's business, it provides critical medicines that are a necessary part of many medical procedures.
What management is betting on now
The company's leadership is focused on simplifying its business to be more efficient and profitable. A major part of this strategy was the recent decision to spin off its Kidney Care division into a separate company, allowing Baxter to concentrate on its other hospital-focused products. They are also working to fully integrate the Hillrom business, betting that connected care technologies like smart beds and patient monitoring will be increasingly important for hospitals. Management is also focused on improving its margins (the profit made on each dollar of sales) after facing pressures from inflation and supply chain (the network of companies involved in producing and distributing a product) issues.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$42.00M
FY2025 Q4
$71.00M
Revenue
$2.98B
Net income
$294.00M
Diluted EPS
0.57
Operating cash flow
$558.00M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$2.96B
Net income
$126.00M
Diluted EPS
0.24
Operating cash flow
$285.00M
Free cash flow
—
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Sources
Revenue
$2.70B
Net income
$-15.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$213.00M
Free cash flow
—
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Sources
Revenue
$2.97B
Net income
$-1.13B
Diluted EPS
-2.21
Operating cash flow
$584.00M
Free cash flow
$71.00M
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Sources
Revenue
$2.83B
Net income
$-46.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.09
Operating cash flow
$237.00M
Free cash flow
—
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Sources
Revenue
$2.81B
Net income
$91.00M
Diluted EPS
0.18
Operating cash flow
$217.00M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$2.62B
Net income
$126.00M
Diluted EPS
0.25
Operating cash flow
$-193.00M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$2.75B
Net income
$-512.00M
Diluted EPS
-1.00
Operating cash flow
$488.00M
Free cash flow
$42.00M
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $27.75 vs current price $23.00
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $27.67 (-0.3% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $27.75 a share — about 20.6% away from today's price of $23.00, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $6.8B. Interest coverage 0.6x.
Net debt
$6.83B
Interest coverage
0.61x
Baxter International Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.6 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
BAX
BASELINE
Baxter International Inc.
Total debt $8.81B Interest coverage 0.61x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $12.28B Interest coverage 4.75x +679% vs BAX Carries about 7.8x more debt cushion than BAX.
Total debt $16.81B Interest coverage 4.87x +698% vs BAX Carries about 8.0x more debt cushion than BAX.
Total debt $28.15B Interest coverage 9.55x +1,465% vs BAX Carries about 15.6x more debt cushion than BAX.
Total debt $7.60B Interest coverage 4.63x +659% vs BAX Carries about 7.6x more debt cushion than BAX.
Total debt $10.00B Interest coverage 9.12x +1,394% vs BAX Carries about 14.9x more debt cushion than BAX.
What you should know
The case for and against BAX
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 3.3% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
-
Dividend yield is 0.2% with 45-year payout history.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -9.0% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
11.22x
P/B
1.83x
P/S
1.02x
EV/EBITDA
10.20x
PEG ratio
36.68x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
33.4%
Operating margin
9.9%
Net margin
-6.2%
ROE
-9.0%
ROA
2.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.36x
Current ratio
1.79x
Quick ratio
1.00x
Total debt
$8.81B
Total cash
$1.98B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$11.61B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-1.9%
EPS TTM
-1.21
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$1.64B
Free CF TTM
$332.00M
FCF margin
2.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.2%
Payout ratio
154.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-28