Baxter sees shares lift on Street-beating Q1 earnings release

Baxter (NYSE:BAX) shares have risen today after the medical device company topped expectations on Wall Street with its 1st quarter earnings results.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based company posted profits of $272 million, or 50¢ per share, on sales of $2.48 billion for the 3 months ended March 31. The company saw its bottom line shrink 92% while sales grew 4.2% compared with the same period in 2016.

After adjusting to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 58¢, just ahead of the 53¢ consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $2.43 billion for the quarter.

“Encouraged by a solid start to 2017 and the on-going momentum of our business transformation initiatives, we are raising our full-year sales and earnings outlook. We are driving growth through disciplined execution and particular strength across our U.S. businesses. We will continue to invest in evolving our portfolio through the introduction of innovative products and technologies along with geographic expansion to deliver future growth,” CEO & chair José Almeida said in a press release.

Based on the quarter, Baxter said it was raising its financial outlook for the full year. The company said it expects to post earnings per share of between 55¢ and 58¢ for the upcoming quarter, and between $2.20 and $2.28 for the full year.

Baxter stock has risen more than 2% so far today, up $1.12 at $54.33 as of 11:39 a.m. EST.

Earlier this month, Baxter saw shares rise after analysts at Leerink Partners upgraded their view of the stock, citing its strong free cash flow and a string of “beat-‘n’raise” quarters from the Chicago-area healthcare giant.

Leerink analysts Danielle Antalffy and Rebecca Wang boosted their rating on BAX shares from “market perform” to “outperform” and boosted the price target to $64 from $54.

The post Baxter sees shares lift on Street-beating Q1 earnings release appeared first on MassDevice.

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