With respect to L.L. Cool J, you can call this a comeback.
Shares of Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) today hit highs on Wall Street not seen since before the Great Recession, trading at $14.59 per share – a level not seen since the fall of 2007.
The Marlborough, Mass.-based medical device company was buoyed in part by investment bank Leerink Partners, which upgraded the stock to "outperform" with an $18-per-share price target, up from $15 previously.
"Over the last 2 years, BSX’s turnaround story has begun to play out, with new management delivering solid execution against both near- and long-term sales and EPS growth targets," Leerink analyst Danielle Antalffy wrote in a note to investors.
“Given the company’s recent consistency in delivering EPS in line with or better than expectations – now 8 consecutive quarters – and an upcoming slew of new product launches, we are increasingly confident that BSX is well on track to achieve its long-term goals laid out at its February 2013 analyst meeting," Antalffy wrote. "All of this together solidly positions BSX to deliver double-digit EPS growth over the next few years, in our view."
Antalffy specifically noted anticipated launches of Boston’s Watchman anti-stroke heart implant and Synergy drug-eluting stent as representing the company’s "2 most meaningful pipeline products expected to launch over the next few years, and both are likely to be significantly accretive to both gross and operating margins."
The FDA is expected to approve Watchman this year, after an unprecedented 3rd advisory panel in October 2014 narrowly voted that its benefits outweigh the risks. Boston Scientific is seeking approval of the device to reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation who would typically be treated with warfarin, a standard oral treatment that has some limitations.
Concurrent with their upgrade, Leerink released a MedaCorp survey of 95 U.S. interventional cardiologists, who said they expect Boston Scientific to pick up signifcant market share in the DES market once Synergy is released.
