Baxter Sales Flat, Earnings Improve

DEERFIELD, Ill. (TheStreet) -- Baxter(BAX Quote), a medical device and pharmaceuticals manufacturer, said its net income rose 12% despite a largely flat third-quarter sales showing.

According to a release on Thursday morning, the company said net income totaled $530 million, or 87 cents a share, in the quarter. In the same period last year, profit landed at $472 million, or 74 cents.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings came to 98 cents a share, just ahead of the 97 cents expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sales were mostly unchanged from the year-ago period at $3.15 billion, though the company said sales would have grown by 6% if it had excluded foreign currency impacts. Analysts were anticipating $3.19 billion in sales.

Looking ahead, Baxter expects fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.02 to $1.04, before items, and full-year EPS of $3.79 to $3.81.

In premarket trading, Baxter shares were down 1.1%, or 60 cents, at $56.40.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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