By Rob Curran
Medical-device maker Baxter International booked a plunge in third-quarter net income due to the divestiture of its dialysis-machine unit, and forecast fourth-quarter adjusted profit more or less flat sequentially, as it endeavored to get a factory back online in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
The Deerfield, Ill., maker of hospital supplies and other health-care items posted third-quarter earnings of $140 million, or 27 cents a share, down from $2.51 billion, or $4.93 a share, a year earlier. The year-earlier quarter included $4.86 a share in earnings attributable to the kidney-care unit, now categorized as discontinued operations.
In August, Baxter agreed to sell its Kidney Care unit for $3.8 billion to investment firm Carlyle Group. Baxter expects to receive about $3.15 billion-to-$3.25 billion in proceeds, net of tax.
Stripping out certain one-off items, Baxter logged adjusted earnings of 80 cents a share, topping the average Wall Street peg of 78 cents a share, according to a FactSet tally.
Third-quarter sales were $3.85 billion, in line with the average Wall Street target, as per FactSet.
For the fourth quarter, Baxter targeted adjusted earnings in a range between 77 cents and 81 cents a share. For 2024, Baxter projected adjusted earnings of $2.90-to-$2.94 a share.
"While the hurricane's aftermath is expected to have an impact on our near-term financial outlook, we remain confident in Baxter's outlook and growth trajectory following completion of the pending Kidney Care sale," Chairman, President and Chief Executive Jose Almeida said in a statement.
Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina in late September, flooded Baxter's North Cove, N.C., manufacturing facility, leading to a temporary production shutdown.
Baxter said it is working to restore production at the facility, but does not have a targeted date for getting it back up to full capacity. The highest output production line at the factory, which makes intravenous equipment, has restarted. That production line accounts for 25% of all production at the factory.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2024 07:53 ET (12:53 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.