General · EdgepediaOctober 10, 20265 min read

Becton Dickinson

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE: BDX), commonly called BD, is an American medical technology company founded in 1897 that manufactures syringes, needles, blood-collection systems, infusion and diagnostic equipment, and interventional devices, selling to hospitals, laboratories, blood banks, and pharmaceutical manufacturers worldwide.

Key fact	Detail
Founded	September 1897, with an $8,000 investment split between the founders, selling glass syringes for $2.50 each from Vesey Street, Manhattan¹
FY2025 revenue	$21.8 billion, up 8.2% as reported and 2.9% organic²
FY2025 profitability	Adjusted diluted EPS $14.40 (up 9.6%); GAAP EPS $5.82; adjusted operating margin 25.0%²
Manufacturing scale	28 US plants producing over 10 billion devices per year; nearly 80% of US revenue sourced domestically³
Business model	Over 90% recurring revenue in the post-separation company, against a $70+ billion addressable market growing at approximately 5%⁴
Waters separation	Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions spun off and combined with Waters Corporation on February 9, 2026, at approximately 18.9x EBITDA with a ~$4 billion cash distribution to BD⁵^•⁶
Regulatory constraint	The infusion pump business operates under an FDA consent decree authorizing manufacturing shutdowns and recalls in the event of future violations, with damages of $15,000 per day per violation up to $15 million per year⁷

Business segments and products

Through fiscal 2025, BD operated three worldwide segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional. Effective October 1, 2025, it reorganized into five segments: Medical Essentials, Connected Care, BioPharma Systems, Interventional, and Life Sciences.⁷

Before the February 9, 2026 separation, BD Life Sciences comprised Diagnostic Solutions, Biosciences, and Specimen Management. Specimen Management sold blood collection systems including safety-engineered wingsets, needles, blood collection tubes, arterial blood gas devices, urine collection kits, molecular research tubes, and capillary collection technologies.⁷ Diagnostic Solutions included automated blood culturing and tuberculosis culturing systems, microorganism identification and drug susceptibility systems, molecular testing for infectious diseases and women's health, and point-of-care respiratory assays.⁷

How the business works

BD's economics rest on recurring consumables. The company estimated that the post-separation business would carry over 90% recurring revenue, meaning most sales come from single-use devices and reagents that hospitals, laboratories, and blood banks reorder continuously rather than from one-time capital equipment purchases.⁴ The Medical Essentials segment, which combines Medication Delivery Solutions and Specimen Management, manufactures tens of billions of devices each year, including IV catheters, PICCs (peripherally inserted central catheters), blood collection solutions, syringes, and advanced needle technologies.⁴

Manufacturing scale is concentrated in the United States. BD describes itself as the largest US manufacturer in MedTech, with a network of 28 US plants producing over 10 billion devices each year and nearly 80% of its US revenue sourced domestically.³

By the numbers

Fiscal 2025 (ended September 30, 2025) revenue was $21.8 billion, up 8.2% as reported, 7.7% adjusted for foreign exchange, and 2.9% organic; fourth-quarter revenue was $5.9 billion, up 8.3%.² Adjusted diluted EPS grew 9.6% to $14.40 while GAAP EPS fell 0.7% to $5.82; adjusted operating margin rose 80 basis points to 25.0% while GAAP operating margin slipped 10 basis points to 11.8%.² BD returned $2.2 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2025 through dividends and share repurchases.²

Earlier in fiscal 2025, the quarter ended December 31, 2024 showed revenue of $5,168 million against $4,706 million a year earlier, with net income of $303 million and diluted EPS of $1.04.⁸

After the Waters separation, the smaller company's trajectory is visible in fiscal 2026: third-quarter revenue of $4,983 million, up 5.4% as reported, adjusted diluted EPS of $3.23 (up 4.9%), and year-to-date free cash flow from continuing operations up 44.6% to $1.7 billion.⁶ As of August 6, 2026, BD raised the midpoint of its fiscal 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $12.62–$12.72 from $12.52–$12.72, while maintaining low single-digit FXN revenue growth guidance.⁶

History

Becton and Dickinson founded the company in September 1897, splitting an $8,000 investment. They sold glass syringes for $2.50 each from the third floor of a six-story building on Vesey Street in Manhattan.¹ After about a decade of sourcing supplies from others, the founders opened their own factory on Cornelia Street in East Rutherford, New Jersey, producing blown-glass thermometer tubes and syringes; BD has been headquartered at a modern campus since the late 1980s.¹

Regulatory record and litigation

The infusion pump consent decree. BD's infusion pump business, which came with the 2015 acquisition of CareFusion, operates under an FDA consent decree originally entered in 2007 and amended in 2009 to cover all infusion pumps manufactured by or for CareFusion 303, Inc. The decree authorizes the FDA, in the event of future violations, to order BD to cease manufacturing and distributing infusion pumps and to recall products. BD may be required to pay damages of $15,000 per day per violation for noncompliance, up to $15 million per year.⁷

Hernia mesh and other product litigation. As of December 31, 2024, BD was defending approximately 6,670 product liability claims involving its hernia repair devices, up from about 6,610 at September 30, 2024, after a fiscal 2024 fourth-quarter settlement resolved the vast majority of existing hernia litigation. Most claims are pending in a coordinated proceeding in Rhode Island State Court and a federal multi-district litigation in the Southern District of Ohio, with additional class actions in Canada.⁸ BD also faces product liability claims over its pelvic mesh products, mostly pending in New Jersey Superior Court; over inferior vena cava filters; and over implantable ports, the majority in an MDL in the District of Arizona.⁸

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Companies and commercial industries › Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies

Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026

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