Boston Scientific Corporation's (NYSE:BSX) MedSurg business group (comprising three sub segments viz. Endoscopy, Urology and Pelvic Health and Neuromodulation) has been recording operational sales growth over the last few quarters. We expect this upside to further find reflection in first-quarter 2018 results, scheduled for release on Apr 25.
Click here to know how the company’s overall Q1 performance is expected to be.
Key Catalysts
MedSurg is estimated to demonstrate a steady performance, primarily led by endoscopy. Notably, last quarter, the endoscopy business was fueled by biliary, hemostasis and consistently strong contributions from the EndoChoice and Symetis acquisitions. With Endochoice being fully integrated now, the company is once again expected to deliver solid, organic and operational growth within this segment in the first quarter of 2018 as well.
Consequently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $420 million for endoscopy revenues indicates an 8.5% rise from the year-ago quarter.
Within Urology and Pelvic health too, we expect another quarter of strong growth. Notably, last quarter, the company’s single-use digital ureteroscope, LithoVue, helped drive double-digit growth in core stone franchise within this sub segment. We are also looking forward to the company’s yet another sturdy quarterly performance at Prostate health. Significantly, Urology represents a $4-billion attractive global market potential with large unmet patient needs and hordes of international expansion opportunities.
The consensus mark of $289 million for endoscopy revenues reflects an increase of 9.1% from the year-ago number.
Within Neuromodulation, the company is optimistic about a robust performance through 2018, considering the rapidly-growing niche market. We believe, innovative product launches in both spinal-cord and deep-brain stimulation franchises will likely fuel growth within this segment. We are particularly hopeful about the newly-launched WaveWriter SCS System, the first and the only platform approved by the FDA to simultaneously provide a paresthesia-based, sub-perception therapy for patients suffering chronic pain. Also, the Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation System to treat Parkinson's disease, launched last December, should prove accretive to the company’s Nuromodulation revenues in the first quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $160 million for neuromodulation revenues translates into a 12.7% gain from the year-ago tally.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Boston Scientific carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) , Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) and Abiomed, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABMD) .
Bio-Rad Laboratories sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. It projects a long-term earnings growth rate at 15%.
Myriad Genetics has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 10%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Abiomed has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 31.5%. The stock has a Zacks Rank of 2.
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