10 of the best performing medical device stocks of 2018

Updated Jan. 8, 2019

Medical device company stocks are not looking as rosy as they did two months ago, but the medtech industry still appears to be resisting the overall downward trend in stock markets, according to a Medical Design & Outsourcinganalysis.

More than half of the roughly 100 largest medical device companies in the world saw their stock prices increase during 2018. The situation is worse than the first 10 months of the year, when about two-thirds of medtech companies were up.

Still, having the majority of large medical device company stocks up for the year is an improvement compared with the slumping Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, which saw a dismal end to 2018 amid investor worries over Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, the U.S.-China trade war and the federal government shutdown.

Medical device companies were able to buck the trend thanks to a number of different factors, including strong product launches, positive clinical trial results and new markets opening up – not to mention internal changes.

Being innovative mattered, too. It’s not too surprising that some medical device companies spending a large amount on R&D compared to revenue – including Dexcom, Abiomed, Atricure, Edwards Lifesciences and Insulet – saw their stock prices skyrocket as they marketed innovative devices in fields including diabetes management and cardiology.

Here are 10 of 2018’s top performers and what they’ve accomplished.

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This updated story originally ran Nov. 21, 2018. Assistant editor Danielle Kirsh and managing editor Chris Newmarker contributed to this report.