Forensic Analysis · Medical Devices · as of Nov 9, 2026
Baxter International Inc (BAX)
A forensic read on Baxter International Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.9
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
4
Forensic signals
-14.6%
ROE
5.7%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Baxter International Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.9, placing it in the Safe zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-1.4%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -1.4% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2023–FY2025 from 2.8%. After-tax operating profit was $529M in FY2023 and ($243M) in FY2025, with operating income at 6.8% of revenue in FY2023, 0.1% in FY2024 and -2.7% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $18.7B in FY2023 to $17.4B in FY2025 (-7%), while the revenue it carried went from $10.4B to $11.2B. FY2023's operating profit carried a $141M restructuring charge that took about 0.6 points off that year's return, and FY2025's carried a $485M goodwill write-off and a $162M restructuring charge that took about 2.9 points off the latest; so, net of each other, the two charges take about 2.3 points off the -4.2-point change across FY2023–FY2025. FY2024's operating profit carried a $425M goodwill write-off, a $146M restructuring charge and a $50M asset write-down that alone took about 2.6 points off that year's return; FY2024 sits between the two ends of FY2023–FY2025, so the charge shapes the path between them without moving the change across it. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.
105% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $348M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 105% of free cash flow. That is $16M (5%) more than free cash flow covered. Over FY2025 cash rose $202M and total debt fell $3.6B, so neither line funded the gap. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $2.0B of debt issued against $5.5B repaid; net cash provided by investing activities of $2.8B; net cash used in financing activities of $4.2B. That ratio has been CLIMBING past free cash flow — 45% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $117M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 140%.
$910M
FY2024–FY2025
Goodwill impairments.Took $910M of goodwill writedowns across 2 years (FY2024 ($425M), FY2025 ($485M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.
-41%
FY2024→FY2025
Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~41% in FY2025 (from FY2024). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$11.24B
Revenue Growth YoY+5.7%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+4.2%
Net Margin-8.5%
Free Cash Flow$332.0M
Return on Equity-14.6%
Debt / Equity1.55x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Baxter International Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?