Analysts at UBS and Jefferies found a lot to like in the Street-beating Q2 results out of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT).
“Commentary was encouraging on many fronts. COVID is raging, but hospitals are coping better this time, and MDT still expects to see normalized growth by 4Q. The bigger story is the new tone under CEO Geoff Martha. Share taking and bold moves to push growth higher are the mantra, and 2Q saw share gains across several categories,” said Jefferies analysts and associates Raj Denhoy, Anthony Petrone, Zachary Weiner and Briana Warschun in a note out yesterday.
UBS analysts including Matthew Taylor, Young Li and Michael Sarcone think Medtronic’s revenue and earnings-per-share growth could accelerate on the back of new product launches in the coming quarters.
Both outfits have a “buy” rating on MDT shares.
The world’s largest medical device company posted profits of $494 million, or 36¢ per share, on sales of $7.6 billion for the three months ended Oct. 30, 2020, for a -64% bottom-line slide on a sales decline of 0.8%. Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.02, 22¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $7.1 billion.
Medtronic is in the midst of a major restructuring — with expected annual savings of $450 million to $475 million by 2023. Said Martha at The Virtual Medtech Conference hosted by AdvaMed in October: “I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward.”
MDT shares were up slightly to $114.39 apiece by midday today, a day after closing up 2.7%. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — is down slightly today.