(Reuters) – Baxter International on Tuesday raised its annual profit expectations and beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on strong sales of its medical devices, driven by robust demand for medical care among patients.
Shares of the company rose 3% to $35.69 in premarket trading. Medical device makers have been benefiting from increased demand for non-urgent surgeries such as hip and knee replacements over the past few quarters especially among older adults, who deferred these procedures during the pandemic.
Larger peers Stryker and Boston Scientific also raised their annual profit expectations last month, driven by demand for their medical and surgical devices.
Baxter now expects full-year adjusted profit between $2.93 and $3.01 per share, compared with its previous view of $2.88 to $2.98 per share. Analysts estimated $2.92 per share, according to LSEG data. Revenue for the second-quarter ended June 30 came in at $3.81 billion, beating estimates of $3.76 billion.
Baxter’s kidney care unit, which sells dialysis products, recorded sales of $1.12 billion for the reported quarter, compared with estimates of $1.14 billion.
The company said on Tuesday that it plans to separate the kidney care unit in late 2024 or early 2025. It had initially announced the spin-off plans last year amid supply-chain challenges and weak demand for dialysis operations.
Private equity firm Carlyle Group is in exclusive talks to acquire the kidney care unit for more than $4 billion, including debt, Reuters reported last month, citing a person familiar with the matter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 68 cents per share in the April-to-June quarter, compared with estimates of 66 cents per share.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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