Dive Brief:
- Baxter CEO José Almeida will retire effective immediately, the company announced Monday. Almeida will stay on as an adviser through Oct. 31 during the search for a new CEO.
- Brent Shafer, Baxter’s lead independent director, will become board chair and interim CEO. Shafer was CEO of electronic health records company Cerner from 2018 to 2021, and before that, CEO of Philips North America. Director Nancy Schlichting will take the role of lead independent director.
- In addition, Baxter named Heather Knight as chief operating officer. Knight will also continue in her current role as interim president of Baxter’s medical products and therapies segment.
Dive Insight:
Almeida’s retirement follows nearly a decade as Baxter’s CEO. Almeida joined the company in 2016 and was tasked with changing Baxter’s strategy by focusing on higher-growth markets. During Almeida’s tenure as CEO, Baxter bought Hillrom for $10.5 billion. More recently, the company divested its biopharma solutions and kidney care businesses, with the latter $3.8 billion sale to the Carlyle Group closing on Jan. 31.
“With the key elements of our broad strategic transformation complete, this is the right time for a new CEO to lead the company into its next chapter,” Almeida said in a statement.
J.P. Morgan analyst Robbie Marcus wrote in a research note that Almeida has been an “instrumental part” of Baxter’s transformation over the last decade, but “we don’t think investors will be surprised to see today’s update as new leadership and the conclusion of recent portfolio actions sets up a clean slate to execute on going forwards.”
Baxter on Monday bumped back its fourth-quarter earnings readout to Feb. 20. The company still expects operational sales growth of 4% to 5% and an adjusted operating margin of 16.5%. The forecast does not include any impact from the recently announced tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China.
Stifel analyst Rick Wise wrote Monday that the company's operating margin could see negative pressure from the tariffs.
Baxter said in a statement that it is working to quantify the expected impact and will provide an update on its earnings call.
