By Rob Curran

Baxter International posted a first-quarter loss on higher expenses and one-off items but the health-care conglomerate's sales growth exceeded Wall Street expectations and it backed 2026 growth projections.

The maker of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals posted a loss of $15 million, or 3 cents a share, in contrast to a profit of $126 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-off items, the company logged adjusted earnings of 37 cents a share, besting the mean analyst projection of 31 cents a share, as per FactSet.

Sales rose 3% to $2.7 billion, exceeding the average analyst target of $2.62 billion.

Medical products and therapies rose 2% to $1.3 billion; healthcare systems and technologies sales were more or less flat at about $705 million; while pharmaceutical sales rose 7% to $621 million.

The company reiterated its forecast for 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $1.85-to-$2.05 a share, in line with the average Wall Street target of $1.90 a share.

Baxter also backed its projection for sales from continuing operations to be flat to up 1% for the year.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 30, 2026 08:21 ET (12:21 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.