ABT vs. BDX: Abbott Laboratories vs. Becton, Dickinson Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) are both classified in the Health Care Equipment sub-industry within the broader Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry, placing them in the closest GICS peer bucket.

Company profile comparison for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Profile Item	ABT	BDX
Name	Abbott Laboratories	Becton, Dickinson and Company
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Health Care	Health Care
GICS Industry Group	Health Care Equipment & Services	Health Care Equipment & Services
GICS Industry	Health Care Equipment & Supplies	Health Care Equipment & Supplies
GICS Sub-Industry	Health Care Equipment	Health Care Equipment
Market Capitalization	190.39 billion USD	57.71 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	NYSE
Listing Date	March 17, 1980	February 21, 1973
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

ABT

BDX

GSPC

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
Total Return (1Y)	-10.78%	57.61%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	7.79%	7.79%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	-0.79%	4.70%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

ABT

BDX

GSPC

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	28.48%	26.68%
Beta (5Y)	0.53	0.19
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-39.64%	-40.06%
Avg. Volume (3M)	8.74M	1.77M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

ABT and BDX are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-0.53	2.00
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-0.76	3.59

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 9.14% and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 5.66% land near their industries’ usual ROE ranges, so capital efficiency looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.14%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
ABT: 9.14%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

5.66%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
BDX: 5.66%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their ROE against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 9.75% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 5.89%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.75%

Max: 29.35%
ABT: 9.75%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

5.89%

Max: 29.35%
Q3: 9.33%
BDX: 5.89%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their net margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 21.63% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 11.66%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

11.66%

Max: 35.43%
Q3: 14.14%
ABT: 11.66%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

21.63%

Max: 35.43%
BDX: 21.63%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their operating margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
ROE (TTM)	9.14%	5.66%
ROA (TTM)	4.90%	3.59%
Net Margin (TTM)	9.75%	5.89%
Operating Margin (TTM)	11.66%	21.63%
Gross Margin (TTM)	57.17%	47.02%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 5.67% and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 8.24% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at -1.86% is around its peer norm for EPS growth, while Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at -51.31% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker earnings momentum.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
Revenue Growth (YoY)	5.67%	8.24%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	0.51%	4.99%
EPS Growth (YoY)	-51.31%	-1.86%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	-1.65%	-0.34%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 1.46 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 0.87 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for BDX.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.46

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
ABT: 1.46
Q1: 1.37
Min: 0.30

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.87

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
Q1: 1.37
BDX: 0.87
Min: 0.30

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their current ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 0.61 and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 0.66 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.61

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
ABT: 0.61
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.66

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
BDX: 0.66
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.46	0.87
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.61	0.66
Net Debt / EBITDA	2.37	2.95

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Becton, Dickinson (BDX) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reports a yield of 2.22%, ranking against industry peers normally.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.22%

ABT: 2.22%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

BDX: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 92.54% and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 72.49% pay out more of their earnings than any of their industry peers — the thinnest cover in their groups, so dividend headroom deserves attention.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

92.54%

ABT: 92.54%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

72.49%

BDX: 72.49%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
Dividend Yield (TTM)	2.22%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	92.54%	72.49%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 41.02 and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 41.87 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

41.02

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
ABT: 41.02
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

41.87

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
BDX: 41.87
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

On P/S ratio, both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 3.95 and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 2.97 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

3.95

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
ABT: 3.95
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.97

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
BDX: 2.97
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

On P/B ratio, both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 3.73 and Becton, Dickinson (BDX) at 2.34 are valued close to their industries’ norm against book — neither stands out from peers.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

3.73

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
ABT: 3.73
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

BDX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.34

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
Median: 3.00
BDX: 2.34
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Becton, Dickinson (BDX): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Becton, Dickinson (BDX)
Metric	ABT	BDX
P/E Ratio (TTM)	41.02	41.87
P/S Ratio (TTM)	3.95	2.97
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	3.73	2.34
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	3.19%	7.18%