Continue reading Boston Scientific to Pay Johnson & Johnson $1.7B Settlement

Boston Scientific to Pay Johnson & Johnson $1.7B Settlement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), a manufacturer of a whole host of medical devices involved with the management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, released its Q1 data on Tuesday. Revenues increased 6%, and adjusted earnings per share came in at 79 cents (some of the adjustments were related to restructuring and litigation issues).

The company was able to grow the adjusted-per-share bottom line by 10%. In addition, according to Reuters, Medtronic beat estimates by a penny. Shareholders should keep in mind, however, that the quarter benefited from an extra week.

Continue reading Medtronic increases adjusted income, beats by a penny

Medtronic increases adjusted income, beats by a penny originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), an expert in medical devices and a colleague of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), reported earnings for the second quarter on Monday after the closing bell. Wall Street liked the results. Shares of the company were bid higher by 5.8% in the after-hours session.

Net sales increased 7%. On an adjusted basis, Boston Scientific made 20 cents per share. According to Earnings.com, the business was supposed to bring in only 13 cents per share. Thus, management did a superb job of beating the analysts at their precious game. Unfortunately, Boston Scientific made the same amount of adjusted profit in the year-ago period, so there wasn't any growth on the bottom line.

Continue reading Boston Scientific tops estimates and guides higher

Boston Scientific tops estimates and guides higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results to reflect improved visibility. The firm raised its target price to $6.50 from $3.
• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) and Potash (NYSE: POT) to Buy from Hold and Agrium (NYSE: AGU) to Hold from Sell as it believes stronger grain fundamentals more than offset China contract risk. The firm raised its target on Mosaic to $72 from $48, on Potash to $145 from $83 and on Agrium to $55 from $36.
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) Was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
• Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ARUN, MOS, POT, AGU, EGLE, DO, MON, SWCEY, TDC and ABC

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ARUN, MOS, POT, AGU, EGLE, DO, MON, SWCEY, TDC and ABC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Abbott Labs (ABT) gains on stent study results

Abbott Labs (ABT) gains on stent study results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) got approval for its new drug-coated stent. The products are used to open clogged arteries, often in the place of by-pass surgery. The field has been dominated by deeply troubled medical device company Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX). It looks that the weakened company is in for much more pain.

According to The Wall Street Journal, ABT "received regulatory approval for its Xience V drug-coated stent, which is expected to be the top seller in the roughly $2 billion U.S. market because it appears to be more effective than rival devices." Boston Scientific will sell the new Abbott product, but with 40% of the revenue going to its rival, it is hard to see how that is a good deal.

BSX has been beaten by competition at almost every turn. It took on tremendous debt when it bought medical device company Guidant. It faced trouble when some Guidant products hit quality control issues. Boston Scientific stents came under criticism a year ago, when medical research questioned how effective they were.

BSX traded at almost $45 in 2004. It is now at about $12. With new competition and a bad balance sheet, that is not likely to change much.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Abbott's success is Boston Scientific's failure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Recent data suggests that America's largest industrial companies are piling up cash. The New York Times reports: "According to S.& P., the total cash held by companies in its industrial index exceeded $600 billion in February, up from about $203 billion in 1998."

That is good news if the money does something other than sit in the bank. A number of very large companies like Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) don't need anywhere near the tons of greenbacks in their accounts and they add more every quarter.

The money probably has two potential uses. One is to buy other companies -- as the market falls, there are going to be more deals at lower prices. Of course, many deals don't work. Some of these will fail to find economies of scale and lead to write-offs like the Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) buyout of Guidant. Everyone lost as the BSX shares fell apart.

The second option is that companies could just do the simple thing and turn the cash back to shareholders. Everyone wins and it is hard to screw up a big one-time dividend.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com

America's big companies have a lot of cash originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Credit Suisse initiated the medical supplies and devices sector with a Market Weight rating and started shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) and Becton, Dickinson and Co (NYSE: BDX) with Outperform ratings and Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) with Neutral ratings.
  
• East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC) was initiated with a Buy rating and $36 target at B. Riley; the firm's target implies a 23.1% potential total return over the next twelve months including the stock's 1.35% dividend yield.
  
• Tempur Pedic (NYSE: TPX) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair, as they find the current valuation attractive for long-term investor given the company's strong position in the specialty sleep products.
  
• Deutsche Bank resumed coverage of AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) with a Hold rating and $29 target, citing the strength of the Canadian dollar and difficult newsprint fundamentals.

• Banc of America initiated shares of JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) with Buy ratings and targets of $73 and $76, and initiated Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ) and Solarfun Power (NASDAQ: SOLF) with Neutral ratings and targets of $34 and $14.

Analyst initiations: Medical supples and devices sector, EWBC, TPX and ABH originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) is a company in trouble. It spent too much for medical device company Guidant, leaving it with $8.3 billion in debt. And sales of its drug-coated stents have been hurt by clotting problems. The company lost $272 million in the last quarter.

The combination of high debt and poor earnings has done a great deal of damage to the stock. The company's shares are down about 22% this year.

Boston Scientific has come up with a simple plan, which is to sell itself off in pieces until its debt comes down to a level that it can service. Today, the company sold its cardiac surgery and vascular surgery units for $750 million. The buyer was Getinge, a Swedish company. The two units were part of Guidant.

The announcement is another example of the hideous cycle that begins when companies overreach. From late 2003 to early 2005, before BSX bought Guidant and took on mountains of debt, its shares moved from $13 to $35. Earnings were strong and shareholders were happy. But BSX management could not resist buying another medical device company and got into a brutal bidding war with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), which pushed the price of Guidant to an irrational level.

Now, Boston Scientific can sell off what it bought, but probably at a lower price.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Boston Scientific unit sale digs it out of hole originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman removed shares of Air France (NYSE: AKH) from its Conviction Buy List due to the increase in the price of fuel and the possibility of an economic slowdown.
  
• Goldman downgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Neutral from Buy and removed the stock from its Pan-Europe Buy List due to valuation.
  
• Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Sell from Neutral to reflect increased competition from generic-drug makers, a poor pipeline and slow earnings growth.
  
• Wachovia downgraded shares of Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) to Hold from Buy to reflect valuation and the company's lower than expected Q3 results. Shares were also lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Stanford lowered Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) to Hold from Buy and notes that the company's Q3 results and Q4 revenue guidance brings the company's 2007 revenue outlook $15M below the consensus, and advises investors to remain on the sidelines. The firm believes the company's strategy is sound, but that its execution has been slow.

• Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) and Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) were downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded the E&P sector, including Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQ: BEXP), Mariner Energy (NYSE: ME) and Nobel Energy (NYSE: NBL) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Baird downgraded Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Goldman downgraded Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: AKH, BHP, AZN, BRCM and SVVS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage

Boston Scientific (BSX) almost triples earnings estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Things seemed to be going so well for medical device maker Medtronic (NYSE: MDT). It recently got FDA approval for its drug coated stent, a product that holds clogged arteries open. At over $56, its stock had moved near a 52-week high.

The few days of celebration ended abruptly. The company warned that a wire in its newest defibrillator models has malfunctioned in hundreds of patients. It may have even caused several deaths. According to The New York Times, a defibrillator is a "device that shocks faltering hearts back into normal rhythm." The company is asking that 235,000 patients see their doctors to check for the defect. The Times also writes that replacing the wire on a heart device like a defibrillator is considered by experts to be far more dangerous than replacing the device itself.

The announcement points to one of the problems that big medical device companies face as their products become more complex. Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) has recently lost significant revenue as studies have shown that its drug coated stents may cause blood clots in the heart. That and other problems have taken the company's stock from over $27 less than two years ago to $15 in recent trading.

It is too early to say what may have caused the defect in the Medtronic device, but if there is a hint that the defect was discovered some time ago or that the product's flaw was due to faulty manufacturing, some smart attorney will be filing a class action suit before the year's end.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Medtronic (MDT) heart device raises major health concern originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Thomas Wiesel initiated coverage of the Medical Devices Industry:
• Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) was initiated with an Underweight rating, expecting shares to Underperform peers due to reductions in estimates, risks to the stent business and valuation.
  
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was initiated with an Overweight rating, saying attractively valued as they believe the growth in underlying markets may be more robust than the current sentiment suggests.
  
• St. Jude Medical (NYSE: SJT) was initiated with an Overweight rating, saying shares offer exposure to attractive drivers, a management team with the best track record in the segment, and a potential acquisition candidate.
  

• Stephens believes the recent weakness in Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) due to "turmoil" in the market has created an attractive entry point, starting shares with an Overweight rating.

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of AXA (NYSE: AXA) with an Overweight rating, citing an attractive risk/reward and strong free cash flow...

• S1 Corp (NASDAQ: SONE) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Avondale.

• Needham started Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) with a Buy rating.

• Credit Suisse initiated AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) with a Neutral rating.

• Jefferies started Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX) with a Hold rating.

Analyst initiations: AXA, BSCI, BSX, and MDT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boston Scientific earnings suffer blockage originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New CFO pushes Boston Scientific higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 May 2007 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" advises avoiding Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) despite its recent rally.
• Barron's "Weekday Trader Extra" reported that the Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners increased $39 a share offer for Clear Channel Communications Inc (NYSE: CCU) is not guaranteed to succeed, with Barron's saying $42 a share or higher likely would.
• Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) said that parts of the Coast Guard's "Deepwater" modernization program are under investigation by the Justice Department, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• According to the Financial Times (subscription required), citing a comprehensive independent study from IHS, Iraq may hold twice as much oil in its reserves as previously thought.

• The Business reported that Barclays plc ADS (NYSE: BCS) may have identified several ways of offering a higher price for ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN), the Dutch bank it is trying to acquire, according to sources.
• The National Security Council, or NSC, has called for "special scrutiny" of VodafoneGroup plc ADS's (NYSE: VOD) takeover of Hutch-Essar, which may further delay the deal, reported the Economic Times.

• Macrumors.com reported, citing Reuters, that AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) COO Randall Stephenson said the Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone is on target for a late June launch.

Newspaper wrap-up 4-19-07: Iraq oil reserves may be double previous estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $65 target to reflect valuation, improved fundamentals and hidden value in real estate.
• Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was added to American Technology's Focus List with a $145 target.
• Cowen upgraded shares of DirecTV Group, Inc (NYSE: DTV) and EchoStar Communications (NASDAQ: DISH) to Neutral from Underperform citing potential cash flow growth and re-capitalization opportunities that will offset competitive risks in the near-term.

• Con-Way Inc (NYSE: CNW) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens citing a tonnage rebound at the company.
• Bear Stearns transferred coverage and raised its rating of Netease.com, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) to Outperform from Peer Perform citing valuation.
• Bernstein upgraded its Cardiac Rhythm Management group, which contained Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX), Medtronic, Inc (NYSE: MDT) and St. Jude Medical, Inc (NYSE: STJ), to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm cited anticipated recovery of the ICD market and easier comps for 2007 and expects the U.S. ICD market to have 10% growth compared to last year's negative growth.
• JP Morgan upgraded Borland Software Corp (NASDAQ: BORL) to Overweight from Underweight, as the firm expects the company to achieve margin targets and named Borland its turnaround pick for 2007.

Analyst upgrades 4-17-07: AAPL, BSX, CNW and COST upgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Vonage Holdings Corp (NYSEL VG) was downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns following the court injunction barring Vonage from using Verizon Communications' (VZ) patented technology.

• Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO. Cowen removed Boston Scientific from its Focus List citing superior clinical results from Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) drug-eluting stent, Xience V.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) to Hold from Buy with a $72 target on valuation.

• CV Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CVTX) was downgraded at Deutsche Bank, to Sell from Hold with a $2 target. The downgrade was ahead of the full Ranexa Merlin PIII data to be presented at the American College of Cardiology on Tuesday, March 27th, as the firm believes it will fall short of generating sufficient positive data trends for supporting Ranexa's outlook.

• DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX) was removed from JP Morgan's Focus List as the firm believes the potential divestiture of Chrysler is at least partially priced into shares; JP Morgan maintains an Overweight rating on the stock.

• Morgan Stanley cut Progressive Corp (NYSE: PGR) to Underweight from Equal-Weight.

• William Blair downgraded Kronos Inc (NASDAQ: KRON) to Market Perform from Outperform following the company's acquisition.

• Bank of America downgraded Paxar Corp (NYSE: PXR) to Neutral from Buy on news of Avery Dennison Corp's (AVY) acquisition of the company.

• Deutsche Bank cut Tesoro Corp (NYSE: TSO) to Sell from Hold with an $85 target.

• Goldman Sachs cut Volvo (NASDAQ: VOLV) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 3-26-07: Boston Scientific & Vonage downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 8:30am. Analysts will evaluate Tiffany's holiday performance, new products and note management's comments on global diamond and jewelry trends.
• Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) to hold analyst meeting at 8:30am.
• Canon Inc ADR (NYSE: CAJ) to hold shareholder meeting at 10pm.

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) to hold shareholder meeting at 9:30am.
• McCormick and Company Inc (NYSE: MKC) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10am. Analysts will focus on McCormick's consumer segment [largest business], but will also note industrial business line performance, new spices/ingredients and commodity costs.

• Teco Energy Inc (NYSE: TE) to provide 2007 outlook; webcast at 8am.
• Media Telecommunications & Entertainment Conference 3/28-3/29

• PDUFA date for Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc's (NASDAQ: NSTK) Calcitonin-Salmon Nasal Spray for Osteoporosis.

• Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ: FINL) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 8:30am. Note that the company issued disappointing guidance earlier this month.
• CKE Restaurants Inc (NYSE: CKR), the owner of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants, to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 9am. Analysts will review the company's same store sales by restaurant chain, average lunch/dinner checks, menu changes and margins. Analysts will also evaluate management's the performance of breakfast offerings, and the company's chain expansion plan.

Market highlights for next week: Tiffany, McCormick and CKE Restaurants to report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman Sachs downgraded Embarq Corp (NYSE: EQ) to Sell from Neutral based on valuation and potential margin dilution.

• Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns based on regulatory and competitive challenges.

• Despite expectations of strong Q4 results and 2007 guidance, Needham downgraded Garmin Ltd (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Hold from Buy based on valuation, as they believe the multiple the market is willing to give the stock is likely to decline as PNDs continue to increase as a percentage of revenue.

• Roth Capital downgraded China BAK Battery Inc (NASDAQ: CBAK) to Hold from Buy.

• DA Davidson downgraded Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE: WY) to Neutral from Buy.

• BMO Capital Markets downgraded Brady Corp (NYSE: BRC) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Wachovia downgraded Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD) to Market Perform from Outperform, expecting weakness in 2007 from the Las Vegas locals market and Atlantic City.

• Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank citing valuation.

Analyst downgrades 2-12-07: Embarq, Garmin & Boyd Gaming all downgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.