The medtech industry had a banner year in 2013, with share prices for some 39 publicly traded medical device makers rising an average 44.8% as of Dec. 17, outpacing the Dow Jones Industrial Average (up 21.1% this year), the S&P 500 (+24.9%) and the NASDAQ index (+29.8%).
Several medtech makers posted triple-digit gains this year, including Retractable Technologies (NYSE:RVP), Dexcom Inc. (NSDQ:DXCM), AtriCure (NSDQ:ATRC) and NuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA).
Retractable’s share price rose a whopping 267.9% from its 78¢ open Jan. 2, closing out Dec. 17 at $2.87. RVP share prices ranged from a low of 75¢ to a high of $4.10 during the year-to-date.
Dexcom posted gains of 146.7%, rising from $13.89 per share Jan. 2 to yesterday’s close of $34.27; NuVasive gained 136.2%, climbing from its $15.78 start to $32.11 per share as of yesterday’s market close.
Other notable gainers include 1-time cellar-dweller Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), up 95.2% from $5.86 per share at the beginning of the year to $11.44; Abiomed (NSDQ:ABMD), which saw share prices rise 93.0%, from $13.69 apiece to $26.42; and Unilife (NSDQ:UNIS), up 82.4% to $4.25 apiece as of yesterday, from a $2.33 start.
But not all medical device companies enjoyed 2013’s bounty. Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) watched its share price slide 31.8% to $62.73 as of market’s close Dec. 17, from a $91.92 start Jan 2. Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) also suffered, with share prices falling to $355.93 apiece yesterday, down 29.7% from the $506.50 mark logged on the 1st day of trading in January. And fellow robotic surgery company Hansen Medical (NSDQ:HNSN) slid 24.5% to $1.63 per share, from $2.16 apiece at the beginning of 2013.
Among large-cap players (with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more), St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) led the list with a 61.9% gain, rising from $36.71 per share to $59.42, followed by Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) (+36.5%); Zimmer (NYSE:ZMH) (+34.1%); Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX) (+33.4%); C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) (+33.0%); Stryker (NYSE:SYK) (+29.0%); Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) (+23.3%); Abbott (NYSE:ABT) (+15.1%); and Covidien (NYSE:COV) (+12.9%).
