Stryker misses third-quarter forecasts but lifts its 2026 profit guidance and adds $3bn to buybacks

Revenue of $6.52bn fell short of the $6.69bn analysts expected, while the medical device maker now sees full-year adjusted earnings of $14.80 to $14.90 a share.

Stryker missed on both lines in the third quarter, but management is telling investors to read past it: the company raised its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance and added $3.0 billion to its share repurchase programme.

Earnings came in at $3.52 a share, $0.06 below expectations. Revenue was $6.52 billion against the $6.69 billion analysts had expected, a gap of $0.17 billion. Adjusted earnings guidance for the year now stands at $14.80 to $14.90 a share, and the company expects organic net sales growth of 6.5% to 7.0%.

The raised outlook matters more than the miss. Guidance is management's own forecast, and lifting it after a shortfall implies the company thinks the weak quarter was a blip and not a change of direction. The enlarged buyback says the same thing with money. Kevin Lobo, chair and chief executive, conceded that the quarter fell short of expectations despite solid overall performance, and said he expects a solid fourth quarter and momentum into 2027.

That promise carries extra weight because of the timing. Lobo is due to hand over in January 2027 to Spencer Stiles, who will inherit a company whose latest quarter disappointed even as its full-year numbers were pushed up. Lobo's own admission of the miss makes the handover look less tidy than the guidance suggests. If the fourth quarter does not deliver the solid result he has promised, the pressure will land on Stiles before he has taken the job.