UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO

SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) August 6, 2015

BECTON, DICKINSON AND COMPANY

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

New Jersey

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)

(201) 847-6800

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

N/A

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K Filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

On August 6, 2015, Becton, Dickinson and Company (“BD”) issued a press release announcing its financial results for its third fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2015. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this report.

The press release furnished as Exhibit 99.1 contains certain financial measures that differ from those presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“non-GAAP measures”), as follows:

We also present revenues and revenue growth rates for these periods, and our estimated revenue growth for fiscal year 2015, on a “comparable” basis, which means assuming the acquisition of CareFusion occurred at the start of BD’s 2015 fiscal year. We provide these measures after eliminating the effect of foreign currency translation for the reasons discussed above. We believe these comparable measures allow investors to better understand our revenue performance (and anticipated revenue performance) for the combined company on an annualized basis.

We also present estimated EPS guidance for fiscal year 2015 compared to fiscal year 2014, both for the BD business as it existed at the time of the CareFusion acquisition and BD as a whole, after eliminating the aforementioned items and the anticipated impact of foreign currency translation. Management believes that these adjustments allow investors to better understand BD’s anticipated underlying performance for fiscal year 2015 in relation to fiscal year 2014.

BD’s management uses each of these non-GAAP measures in its own evaluation of BD’s performance, particularly when comparing performance to past periods and to the performance of peer companies. Management also uses the non-GAAP results for budget planning purposes on a quarterly and annual basis.

BD provides non-GAAP measures to investors on a supplemental basis, as they provide additional insight into BD’s financial results. Management believes the non-GAAP results provide a reasonable measure of BD’s underlying performance before the effects of items that are considered by management to be outside of BD’s underlying operational results or that affect period to period comparability.

Non-GAAP results should not be considered in isolation and are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, GAAP results. Our non-GAAP results may differ from similar measures used by other companies, even if similar terms are used to identify such measures. Although BD’s management believes non-GAAP results are useful in evaluating the performance of its business, its reliance on these measures is limited since items excluded from such measures may have a material impact on BD’s net income, earnings per share or cash flows calculated in accordance with GAAP. Therefore, management typically uses non-GAAP results in conjunction with GAAP results to address these limitations. Investors should also consider these limitations when evaluating BD’s results.

Exhibit 99.1    Press release dated August 6, 2015, which is furnished pursuant to Item 2.02

SIGNATURES

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: August 6, 2015

Exhibit Index