Earnings Preview: Baxter International

Baxter International (BAX) is expected to report Q3 earnings before market open Thursday Oct. 16, with a conference call scheduled for 8:30 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of 83c on revenue of 3.07B. The consensus range is 81c to 83c for EPS, and revenue of $3.04B to $ 3.11B, according to First Call. In its Q2 earnings release Baxter reported EPS 85c compared to consensus of 82c and revenue of $3.2B compared to consensus of $3.05B.

Analyst Views

Possible EPS drivers are potentially strong, BioSciences sales especially, in Advate sales and positive foreign exchange. Possible negative factors for this earnings period include the Heparin recall and negative changes to Medicare reimbursements.

On September 3 UBS initiated Baxter with a Buy rating and an $80 price target. On September 15, Morgan Stanley said IVIG and WinRho can add 3c to EPS and the firm rates the shares an overweight. On October 9, Citigroup noted that Medical Technology names, like Baxter, are relatively well insulated from the current economic weakness and expects strong quarters to be reported in the space.