Baxter International (BAX)
Forward P/E is 12.38x against a peer median of 13.15x, a ratio of 0.94x — inside the 0.90–1.15 fair range — with trailing P/E not reported (shown as n/a on the statistics page) and PEG not reported. Latest-quarter revenue grew 5.3% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), below the group median of 7.8%, so the growth test for an undervalued label is not met and the small discount stands as a fair price. Delivered demand check: the medical devices & equipment group's median growth was 7.8% year over year — demand steady, and Baxter is growing more slowly than that.
What would change this label: Move to UNDERVALUED if the forward P/E compresses to about 11.8x or below (0.90x the peer median) and revenue growth rises to at least the group median of 7.8% year over year for two quarters. Move to OVERVALUED if the forward P/E rises above about 15.1x (1.15x the peer median) while revenue growth stays below the group median.
Baxter sells infusion pumps, IV fluids and dialysis products to hospitals. Its shares are a little cheaper than similar companies, but it is also growing more slowly than they are. On balance the price looks fair rather than a clear bargain.
Both lines start at 100 on 2020-09-01. Over the full window Baxter International returned -70.87% and the S&P 500 +118.28% (price returns; dividends not reinvested). Worst peak-to-trough fall for Baxter International: -82.3% (2022-02-09 to 2026-03-30). Source: Nasdaq official daily history.
What the label rests on
Forward P/E is 12.38x against a peer median of 13.15x, a ratio of 0.94x — inside the 0.90–1.15 fair range — with trailing P/E not reported (shown as n/a on the statistics page) and PEG not reported. Latest-quarter revenue grew 5.3% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), below the group median of 7.8%, so the growth test for an undervalued label is not met and the small discount stands as a fair price. Delivered demand check: the medical devices & equipment group's median growth was 7.8% year over year — demand steady, and Baxter is growing more slowly than that. The company’s forward P/E is 12.4× against a peer median of 13.2×. Its own history: UNVERIFIED — no sourced range available. Sector demand read: Delivered demand check: the medical devices & equipment group's median latest-quarter revenue growth was 7.8% year over year (SEC filings) — demand steady. Baxter's own growth of 5.3% ran below that median. Latest-quarter sales growth was +5.3% versus a year earlier (SEC filings).
| Company | Price (Oct 28, 2026) | Forward P/E | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter International (BAX) | $25.68 | 12.4× | — |
| COO | $59.53 | 13.1× | 20.5× |
| ALGN | $153.83 | 13.2× | 26.7× |
| PODD | $148.64 | 21.5× | 28.1× |
| RVTY | $167.83 | 29.8× | 80.1× |
| ZBH | $96.21 | 11.0× | 23.4× |
| Peer median | 13.2× |
Multiples: stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026. Peer set chosen by sector; the median is the middle value of the set. The label and its numbers were recorded in the programme’s label registry on Oct 28, 2026 and will be scored at 6 and 12 months.
Sales, profit and cash
Gross margin = gross profit divided by sales, from SEC filings.
Free cash flow = cash from operations minus spending on plant and equipment, both from the company’s SEC cash-flow statement. Gaps are quarters where that spending line is not separately tagged in the filings — shown as gaps, never estimated.
| Quarter | Sales | Gross margin | Net income | EPS (GAAP, diluted) | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q/E Jun 2026 2026-06-30 | $3.0B | 34.9% | $126M | 0.24 | — |
| Q/E Mar 2026 2026-03-31 | $2.7B | 33.0% | $-15M | -0.03 | — |
| Q/E Dec 2025 2025-12-31 | $3.0B | 19.4% | $-1.1B | — | — |
| Q/E Sep 2025 2025-09-30 | $2.8B | 33.5% | $-46M | -0.09 | — |
| Q/E Jun 2025 2025-06-30 | $2.8B | 35.3% | $91M | 0.18 | — |
| Q/E Mar 2025 2025-03-31 | $2.6B | 32.8% | $126M | 0.25 | — |
| Q/E Dec 2024 2024-12-31 | $2.8B | 34.8% | $-512M | -1.00 | — |
| Q/E Sep 2024 2024-09-30 | $2.7B | 38.3% | $140M | 0.27 | — |
| Q/E Jun 2024 2024-06-30 | $3.8B | 37.5% | $-314M | -0.62 | — |
| Q/E Mar 2024 2024-03-31 | $3.6B | 38.6% | $37M | 0.07 | — |
| Q/E Dec 2023 2023-12-31 | $3.9B | 37.9% | $245M | 0.48 | $341M |
| Q/E Sep 2023 2023-09-30 | $3.7B | 30.1% | $2.5B | 4.93 | $191M |
The last twelve reported quarters. Full 24-quarter history sits in the data pack behind this page. A dash means the figure is not tagged as a standalone quarter in the company’s SEC facts (the usual case is the fourth quarter, which many companies only report inside the full-year filing) — it is missing, not zero.
Earnings: getting better or worse?
Each box is one quarter’s earnings per share (EPS). Green means EPS was higher than the same quarter a year earlier; red means lower; a dash means the figure is not tagged in the filings.
Basis: GAAP diluted EPS from SEC company facts, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Key facts
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Company (legal name in filings) | BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC |
| Chief executive | Andrew Hider (source: https://www.baxter.com/about-baxter/leadership/andrew-hider) |
| Sector | Health Care — Health Care Equipment — sells infusion pumps, IV fluids, dialysis and surgical products to hospitals |
| Share price (Oct 28, 2026) | $25.68 |
| Market value (market cap) | $12.9B — share price times shares outstanding of 516,995,999 (SEC filings; SEC EDGAR dei EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding (latest)) |
| Sales, last twelve months | $11.5B |
| Net income, last twelve months | $-1.1B |
| Free cash flow, last twelve months | — |
| Latest reported quarter | Q/E Jun 2026 (of 24 quarters in the data pack) |
| Six-year price return vs S&P 500 | -70.87% vs +118.28% |
| Worst peak-to-trough fall | -82.3% (2022-02-09 to 2026-03-30) |
What we could not verify
- TTM GAAP diluted EPS could not be summed from company facts because at least one of the last four quarters (typically Q4) has no standalone tagged EPS; trailing P/E is therefore taken from the labelled secondary source in valuation_label.md.
- Free cash flow is absent for one or more quarters: either the filer does not separately tag PP&E purchases in its EDGAR cash-flow facts (common for banks), or — for a successor registrant's newest quarter — the cash-flow lines are year-to-date without the prior-quarter rung needed to difference them. Affected quarters are null in the data, never estimated.
- Own-history P/E range not yet compiled for this company in the Phase 1 batch run; the label rests on peer-median, growth and PEG evidence.
- PE Ratio shown as n/a on statistics page; recorded as null
- PEG Ratio shown as n/a on statistics page; recorded as null
- Guidance record (each quarter scored against the guidance the company gave the quarter before) is not yet compiled for this company — it is a Phase 2 layer. The earnings strip below therefore uses reported EPS versus a year earlier, which is fully sourced from filings.
The IT factor — the most exciting thing the market is overlooking — is not assessed on an X-Ray page. It belongs to the Deep Dive (Phase 2), where it gets the evidence standard it needs. Leadership-era scoring (the six years split by chief executive) is likewise a Phase 2 layer; this page names the current chief executive only, from a sourced profile.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR submissions — Filing index; company legal name.
https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000010456.json - SEC EDGAR company facts — Quarterly financial spine: revenue, gross profit, net income, GAAP diluted EPS, operating cash flow, PP&E capex, buybacks, dividends, diluted shares.
https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000010456.json - Nasdaq official daily history — Daily closes for the company; SPY (assetclass=etf) saved as raw/nasdaq_spy_raw.json over identical dates.
https://api.nasdaq.com/api/quote/BAX/historical?assetclass=stocks - Valuation multiples and peer figures — stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026; see valuation_label.md in the data pack.
Conventions: earliest-filed value per period, as first reported; cash-flow years-to-date differenced quarter by quarter; EPS never differenced; free cash flow = operating cash flow minus plant-and-equipment spending. This page is a dated snapshot — updates are new versions, never silent edits.