Exactech: Surgery Technology Studies Encourage, Stock Up

Gainesville, FL-based Exactech Inc. (NASDAQ:EXAC) recently announced that its studies supporting the knee, shoulder and other computer-assisted surgery technologies were featured at the 29th Congress of The International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty (ISTA), a nonprofit organization which promotes public awareness for anthroplasty in Boston, MA. Notably, the company’s share price rallied 1.6% to close at $26.76 following the news.

All the studies registered accurate and successful results for anthroplasty (replacement of a joint) of knee and shoulder and were exclusively conducted by orthopaedic surgeons and Exactech engineers as well as scientists.

Among many of Exactech’s studies that got featured, one demonstrated accurate results in implant-alignment and implant-position of joints while conducting 272 knee replacement surgeries using the Optetrak Logic knee system and is supported by the ExactechGPS computer-assisted surgery system. Notably, the company witnessed its first successful surgery (for revision knee procedures) using ExactechGPS in the U.S. earlier this month, and has already got a 510(k) clearance from the FDA and an approval from the European Union as well.

Other notable studies of Exactech that got demonstrated in ISTA include total shoulder arthroplasty, knee technologies & ancillary surgical techniques and computer-assisted surgery on more than 4000 clinical cases.

EXACTECH INC Price

EXACTECH INC Price | EXACTECH INC Quote

Our Take

Exactech has been a leading platform in hip and knee technologies. Notably, the company has been exclusively focusing on the development of inventory for the knee, revision hip and shoulder systems since the last reported quarter (second-quarter fiscal 2016).

A glimpse at the last reported quarter reveals that sales at the knee-implant platform increased 1% to $19.2 million on a year-over-year basis. In fact, taking the first six months of fiscal 2016 into consideration, knee revenues surged 3% year over year. The company is expected to invest in R&D more aggressively to enhance its product line.

In fact, we believe Exactech is set to gain significant market traction in the coming quarters as well, taking the global market sentiments into consideration. In this regard, the global market for hip and knee orthopedic surgical joint replacement products is forecasted to reach a worth of $33 billion by 2022, as per a report by the ‘Radiant Insights’.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently, Exactech has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector include Cepheid Inc. (NASDAQ:CPHD) , Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY) and PRA Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAH) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cepheid has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of approximately 21.3%. Notably, the stock represents an impressive year-to-date return of 47.4%.

Healthways has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 13.3%. The company posted a stupendous year-to-date return of 94.3%.

PRA Health Sciences has an expected earnings growth of 18%. The company posted a promising year-to-date return of almost 21.7%.

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