Lower costs set Baxter up for higher profits

Article Excerpt

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $87 (New York symbol BAX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 510.6 million; Market cap: $44.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.baxter.com) makes a variety of medical devices, including intravenous pumps and kidney-dialysis equipment. The U.S. accounts for about 40% of its revenue. In July 2015, Baxter spun off its pharmaceutical business, Baxalta, as a separate firm. Ireland-based Shire plc (Nasdaq symbol SHPG) later acquired Baxalta for $32.4 billion in cash and shares—that represented a 37.5% premium on the spinoff’s share price before the announcement. Revenue recovered strongly after Baxalta spin off Due to the spinoff, revenue fell 40.2%, from $16.67 billion in 2014 to $9.97 billion in 2015. However, it rebounded to $10.16 billion in 2016, and $10.56 billion in 2017. Revenue gained a further 5.4%, to $11.13 billion in 2018, partly due to Baxter’s $625 million acquisition of the injectable medicines business of Claris Life. Those operations make drugs for anesthesia, and…