Aug 6 (Reuters) - Baxter International ( BAX ) on

Tuesday raised its annual profit expectations and beat Wall

Street estimates for second-quarter profit on strong sales of

its medical devices, driven by robust demand for medical care

among patients.

Shares of the company rose 3% to $35.69 in premarket

trading.

Medical device makers have been benefiting from increased

demand for non-urgent surgeries such as hip and knee

replacements over the past few quarters especially among older

adults, who deferred these procedures during the pandemic.

Larger peers Stryker and Boston Scientific ( BSX )

also raised their annual profit expectations last month, driven

by demand for their medical and surgical devices.

Baxter now expects full-year adjusted profit between $2.93

and $3.01 per share, compared with its previous view of $2.88 to

$2.98 per share. Analysts estimated $2.92 per share, according

to LSEG data.

Revenue for the second-quarter ended June 30 came in at

$3.81 billion, beating estimates of $3.76 billion.

Baxter's kidney care unit, which sells dialysis products,

recorded sales of $1.12 billion for the reported quarter,

compared with estimates of $1.14 billion.

The company said on Tuesday that it plans to separate the

kidney care unit in late 2024 or early 2025. It had initially

announced the spin-off plans last year amid supply-chain

challenges and weak demand for dialysis operations.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group is in exclusive talks to

acquire the kidney care unit for more than $4 billion, including

debt, Reuters reported last month, citing a person familiar with

the matter.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 68 cents per share

in the April-to-June quarter, compared with estimates of 66

cents per share.