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Becton Dickinson key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Becton Dickinson had return on equity of 6.5%, an operating margin of 11.8%, debt equal to 75.5% of equity and a current ratio of 1.11. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Sept 20092010Sept 20102011Sept 20112012Sept 20122013Sept 20132014Sept 20142015Sept 20152016Sept 20162017Sept 20172018Sept 20182019Sept 20192020Sept 20202021Sept 20212022Sept 20222023Sept 20232024Sept 20242025Sept 2025LTMJun 2026
Gross margin52.6%51.9%52.2%51.3%51.8%50.9%45.7%48.0%49.1%45.5%47.9%47.1%45.1%44.9%42.2%45.2%45.4%46.9%
Operating margin22.8%22.2%22.0%20.2%15.6%19.0%10.4%11.5%12.6%9.4%10.2%5.7%11.8%12.1%10.9%11.9%11.8%10.7%
Net margin17.6%18.5%16.8%15.2%16.1%14.0%6.8%7.8%9.1%1.9%7.1%5.4%10.9%9.4%7.7%8.4%7.7%4.0%
Free-cash-flow margin15.4%14.8%14.9%15.6%14.8%13.7%11.0%14.9%15.1%12.3%13.7%17.2%18.0%7.9%10.9%15.5%12.2%13.8%
Return on equity23.9%24.9%24.8%26.1%28.2%23.5%11.4%13.2%10.7%1.8%5.9%3.9%8.8%7.3%5.8%6.6%6.5%3.8%
Return on assets13.2%13.9%12.7%10.7%11.0%9.7%3.6%3.7%3.5%0.7%2.3%1.7%3.9%3.3%2.8%3.1%3.0%1.8%
Asset turnover0.750.750.760.710.690.690.530.480.380.350.330.300.350.350.370.370.390.44
Current ratio2.612.702.562.692.762.741.291.455.581.031.181.541.331.041.311.171.110.87
Debt to equity36.8%31.2%56.3%100.7%78.7%78.6%179.0%151.3%145.7%102.4%92.0%75.5%74.4%63.5%61.6%77.7%75.5%68.8%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)39.4x30.9x19.8x11.5x9.1x11.9x2.9x3.7x2.9x2.1x2.8x1.7x4.8x5.7x4.7x4.5x4.2x4.2x
Effective tax rate26.1%28.8%25.8%24.7%20.3%22.1%6.0%9.0%−12.7%73.5%−4.8%15.0%5.2%8.3%7.9%15.0%10.8%12.3%
R&D as % of revenue5.8%5.9%6.2%6.1%6.1%6.5%6.1%6.6%6.4%6.3%6.1%6.5%6.7%6.7%6.4%5.9%5.8%5.9%
SG&A as % of revenue24.1%23.7%24.1%24.9%30.1%25.4%24.9%24.1%24.1%25.1%25.1%26.0%24.7%25.0%24.4%24.1%24.2%24.6%
Capital spending as % of revenue8.4%7.5%6.7%6.3%6.5%7.0%5.8%5.6%6.0%5.6%5.5%4.8%6.2%5.2%4.5%3.6%3.5%3.2%
Free cash flow ÷ net income87.1%80.1%88.8%103.1%92.4%97.4%163.2%191.2%165.7%633.4%192.5%316.9%165.1%84.2%142.6%182.9%159.1%340.4%
Dividends ÷ net income25.7%26.2%28.4%31.5%29.9%35.5%69.8%57.6%61.5%298.1%79.8%117.4%50.1%60.8%75.1%64.5%71.3%124.5%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow80.8%103.8%164.8%154.9%70.0%71.1%42.8%30.1%49.2%47.1%41.5%37.0%81.0%105.6%52.6%51.3%82.2%114.6%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

1 of 6 checks passed · June 30, 2026
What it owns · $50.7bn
Short-term assets $8.1bnLonger-term assets $42.6bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $33.8bn
Short-term liabilities $9.4bnShareholders' equity $24.4bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $8.1bn of assets due within a year against $9.4bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
  • More cash than debt $708m of cash against $16.8bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 69% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 68% to 69% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $4.0bn of operating cash flow against $16.8bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $2.5bn against $589m of interest.

From Becton Dickinson's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

70 /100

Strong moat

How hard Becton Dickinson's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 8 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 7.0% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 16 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 45.4%, moving by 1.9 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 12 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 10.7%; its worst year was 7.9%.

  • Cash conversion 17 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 13.1% of revenue.

  • Discipline 18 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 3.6% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.3% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Becton Dickinson's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Becton Dickinson.