Aug 7 (Reuters) - Becton Dickinson ( BDX ) raised its forecast for

annual profit on Thursday, after beating Wall Street estimates for third-quarter

profit and sales on strong demand for its drug-delivery devices.

Shares of New Jersey-based medical device maker rose 9.8% in premarket

trading.

Becton manufactures and distributes medical and surgical products such as

needles, syringes and disposal units.

Medical devices makers have benefited from elevated demand for non-urgent

surgical procedures in the U.S., especially among older adults, since the second

half of 2023.

The trend is expected to continue this year, after health insurers have also

flagged sustained high demand for medical care. Last month, larger medical

device peer Boston Scientific ( BSX ) raised its annual profit forecast, buoyed

by strong demand for its heart devices.

Lab equipment maker Waters Corp ( WAT ) last month agreed to buy a

bioscience and diagnostics unit spun off from Becton in a deal valued at $17.5

billion, expanding its scale in clinical and diagnostic applications.

Becton now expects its 2025 adjusted profit per share between $14.30 to

$14.45, compared with its prior range of $14.06 to $14.34.

It reaffirmed its annual revenue to be between $21.8 billion and $21.9

billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $21.83 billion, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

The company reported a profit of $3.68 per share on an adjusted basis for

the quarter ended June 30, beating estimates of $3.40 per share.

Quarterly sales for the company came in at $5.51 billion, above estimates of

$5.49 billion.

Sales from its medical unit, which makes devices to administer drugs, rose

14.4% to $2.93 billion. Analysts on average estimated $2.91 billion.