BDXBecton, Dickinson and Company

Becton Dickinson makes syringes, catheters and laboratory equipment — consumables a hospital buys continuously.

The catalogue consists of items consumed in every procedure: needles, intravenous sets, specimen containers. Demand follows procedure volumes and is therefore resilient to the economic cycle — operations are not postponed because of the stock market.

The second part is diagnostic instruments and laboratory automation, running on the instrument-and-consumable model: the analyser is installed in a laboratory and its reagents are bought for years, while changing supplier after method validation is expensive.

The company is simplifying its structure by separating segments and working on manufacturing quality after several product recalls. Risks: device regulation, raw material and logistics costs, and hospital budgets. BDX is a dividend aristocrat.