How 'bout that GDT today...
I saw the WSJ article. Mentioned defibrillation devices have much better results than drug therapy, naming GDT, MDT and St. Jude (sym?) as players in defib. market.
What I think really drove it today was BSX Q4 and FY98 downward earnings revisions by UBS Securities. Analyst took every opportunity to mention GDT...
Monday December 1, 10:40 am Eastern Time
RESEARCH ALERT-Boston Scientific Q4 EPS view cut
NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - UBS Securities Inc analyst Emil Westergaard cut his fourth quarter profit forecast for Boston Scientific Inc (NYSE:BSX - news) on Monday to $0.37 a share from $0.44 a share, due to near-term uncertainty.
-- He said the cut was based on a previously-announced $15 million inventory write-down, or $0.03 a share, for a recall and some European over-stocking as well as an ''explosive'' launch of a rival product by Guidant Corp (NYSE:GDT - news) on Boston Scientific's over-the-wire balloon angioplasty sales.
-- Westergaard also cut 1998 estimates to $2.05 from $2.20 based on the strength of Guidant's multi-link launch, which could cut into Boston Scientific's market share until it launches its own NIR stent, planned for mid-1998.
-- Boston Scientific shares were up 10/16 to 45-13/16 while Guidant shares rose 1 to 65-1/4, a new year high.
-- In a report, UBS said Guidant is indicating sales of its Multi-Link stent could exceed $90 million, or a 50 percent market share, in the fourth quarter. That news is tempered by the fact that some Guidant stents are being implanted into patients with a longer guidewire that allows physicians to continue to use Boston Scientific's angioplasty balloons, instead of moving to the Guidant products.
-- UBS said for its models, it is making conservative assumptions and assuming Boston Scientific loses all balloon catheter sales after a procedure is done with a Guidant product. Says each 20 percent increment of domestic stent market share taken by Guidant shaves $0.01 a share from Boston Scientific's EPS per quarter.
-- Boston Scientific meets with the FDA this week concerning its NIR stent filing, UBS said, with PMA (pre-market approval) filing likely in mid-December.
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