Baxter International cut its full-year profit forecast as it continues to wrestle with the shutdown of a North Carolina manufacturing plant following Hurricane Helene in late September, a move causing shares to fall by more than 4% this morning.
The Deerfield-based medical equipment maker said today that it expects fourth-quarter sales to take a $200 million hit, including a $40 million to $50 million impact on its kidney care business and a $150 million to $160 million impact on medical products and therapies sales.
Related: Baxter restarts some production of IV solutions at largest plant
Fourth-quarter sales are expected to decline by low single digits, with earnings projected in the range of 77 cents to 81 cents per diluted share.
Baxter said it now expects total company growth at just 1% to 2% this year, down from the previous guidance of 3%.
Baxter’s stock was down 4.25% this morning, trading at about $34.
Baxter’s intravenous and peritoneal dialysis fluid plant closed after Helene devastated much of the Southeast, including Marion, N.C., the home of Baxter’s North Cove plant, which has been closed since late September. The plant, which is the largest manufacturer of IV and peritoneal dialysis solutions in the country, was flooded following rain and a storm surge.
Baxter has restarted one IV solutions manufacturing line and expects to restart a second in the coming week, the company said yesterday. The two lines represent about 50% of the site’s total production and about 85% of the site’s 1-liter IV solutions, which are commonly used by hospitals and clinics. Shipments are expected in late November. However, Baxter still does not yet have a time for when the North Cove plant will be restored to full manufacturing capacity.
Baxter is in the midst of selling its kidney care business, Vantive, to private equity firm the Carlyle Group for $3.8 billion. Baxter expects the deal to close later this year or in early 2025 and the company expects to fully offset the impact of deal costs by 2027.
Following the sale, Baxter projects operational companywide annual sales growth of 4% to 5%.
In the third quarter, Baxter sales grew 4% to $2.7 billion on a continuing basis, excluding the kidney care business, but net income shrunk dramatically — by 94% — to $140 million in the quarter.
Baxter is the 18th-largest public company by revenue in the Chicago area, according to Crain’s research, employing about 60,000 people.
This article has been updated to clarify that Baxter's third-quarter sales figures excluded the kidney care unit.
