Abbott Laboratories vs Becton Dickinson
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The short version
- Abbott Laboratories is the larger business, with $44.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $21.8B for Becton Dickinson, about 2.0 times as much.
- Becton Dickinson grew revenue faster (8.2%, against 5.7%).
- Abbott Laboratories kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (18.2% operating margin, against 11.8%).
- Abbott Laboratories turned more of its sales into free cash flow (16.7% FCF margin, against 12.2%).
- Abbott Laboratories earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.2%, against 5.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Becton Dickinson’s earnings: a P/E of 59.9x against 29.0x for Abbott Laboratories.
| Latest fiscal year | ABT · FY25 | BDX · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $181.2B | $54.7B |
| Revenue | $44.3B | $21.8B |
| Free cash flow | $7.4B | $2.7B |
| Net income | $6.5B | $1.7B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.7% | 8.2% |
| 5-year growth | 5.1% | 6.3% |
| Share count change | 0.0% | −0.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 56.4% | 45.4% |
| Operating margin | 18.2% | 11.8% |
| Net margin | 14.7% | 7.7% |
| FCF margin | 16.7% | 12.2% |
| Return on capital | 11.2% | 5.5% |
| Return on equity | 13.1% | 6.5% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $4.0B | $17.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.4x | 3.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $5.0B | $2.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 29.0x | 59.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
ABT $20.9B
BDX $12.5B
FY17
ABT $27.4B
BDX $12.1B
FY18
ABT $30.6B
BDX $16.0B
FY19
ABT $31.9B
BDX $17.3B
FY20
ABT $34.6B
BDX $16.1B
FY21
ABT $43.1B
BDX $19.1B
FY22
ABT $43.7B
BDX $18.9B
FY23
ABT $40.1B
BDX $19.4B
FY24
ABT $42.0B
BDX $20.2B
FY25
ABT $44.3B
BDX $21.8B
ABT
BDX
Operating margin
FY16
ABT 14.5%
BDX 11.5%
FY17
ABT 5.7%
BDX 12.6%
FY18
ABT 11.9%
BDX 9.4%
FY19
ABT 14.2%
BDX 10.2%
FY20
ABT 15.5%
BDX 5.7%
FY21
ABT 19.6%
BDX 11.8%
FY22
ABT 19.2%
BDX 12.1%
FY23
ABT 16.2%
BDX 10.9%
FY24
ABT 16.3%
BDX 11.9%
FY25
ABT 18.2%
BDX 11.8%
ABT
BDX
Free cash flow
FY16
ABT $2.1B
BDX $1.9B
FY17
ABT $4.4B
BDX $1.8B
FY18
ABT $4.9B
BDX $2.0B
FY19
ABT $4.5B
BDX $2.4B
FY20
ABT $5.7B
BDX $2.8B
FY21
ABT $8.6B
BDX $3.5B
FY22
ABT $7.8B
BDX $1.5B
FY23
ABT $5.1B
BDX $2.1B
FY24
ABT $6.4B
BDX $3.1B
FY25
ABT $7.4B
BDX $2.7B
ABT
BDX
Return on capital
FY16
ABT 9.5%
BDX —
FY17
ABT 2.1%
BDX —
FY18
ABT 6.2%
BDX 2.7%
FY19
ABT 9.0%
BDX 4.6%
FY20
ABT 10.7%
BDX 2.0%
FY21
ABT 16.4%
BDX 5.6%
FY22
ABT 16.0%
BDX 5.5%
FY23
ABT 12.4%
BDX 5.0%
FY24
ABT 13.6%
BDX 5.1%
FY25
ABT 11.2%
BDX 5.5%
ABT
BDX
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.