Baxter price target lowered to $38 from $46 at Stifel

Stifel analyst Rick Wise lowered the firm’s price target on Baxter (BAX) to $38 from $46 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Baxter delivered basically as-expected sales and better-than-expected EPS, but Q3 performance and the post-release call were “complicated on several fronts” due to late-Q3 hurricane-related challenges negatively impacting Baxter’s North Cove manufacturing facility, the analyst tells investors. The late-Q3 hurricanes clearly have had a meaningfully negative Q4 impact, with management providing both sales and EPS guidance below prior consensus estimates, but management conveyed “considerable optimism” that in 2025 the RemainCo business ex-Kidney remains on track to grow sales 4%-5% year-over-year operationally and reach 16.5% adjusted operating margins, the analyst added.