Chris Newmarker

October 5, 2016

4 Min Read
The 10 Best-Performing Medtech Companies of Fall 2016

Among the world's largest medical device companies, these 10 had the best stock performance during the first nine months of 2016.

Upward ArrowChris Newmarker

Medical device companies are increasingly enjoying a good year when it comes to their stock prices. Back at the end of March, about three-fifths of world's largest medtech companies had stocks that were down for the year. Now, three-fifths of them are up for the year. 

(Download Qmed's full spreadsheet of the 88 stocks + Check Out the 10 Worst-Performing Medtech Companies of Fall 2016)

Among the companies that are doing especially well, a common theme seems to be market strength achieved with a particular type of product, whether it is an echocardiography contrast agent or TAVR or cochlear implants. 

Here are 10 companies that are enjoying especially good years:

1. Lantheus Holdings: +145%

A maker of diagnostic imaging agents and products, Lantheus (North Billerica, MA) has had a rollercoaster ride since its 2015 IPO: It went from being one of the worst performing medical device stocks earlier this year to being the best performing. Though, it helped that Lantheus started out the year at only $3.38 per share. It's easy for companies with low stock prices to see major percent swings. (The company's stock is now trading at more than $8 per share.)

Lantheus has enjoyed especially strong performance when it comes to its echocardiography contrast agent Definity.

For the six months ended June 30, revenue was up more than 4% year-over-year, to more than $148 million. And the company turned a nearly $18 million profit, versus a $24 million loss for the same period a year before. 

Lantheus's stock price did take a ding in September after the company announced plans to sell 5.2 million shares in a secondary offering to help pay down debt, reports The Motley Fool.

2. Ambu: +70%

The Danish maker of diagnostic and life-supporting equipment continues to enjoy robust sales and earnings growth. For the nine months ended June 30, Ambu earned 158 million Danish krone (around $24 million) off $1.51 billion Danish krone (around $230 million) in sales, up from 86 million Danish krone (around $13 million) off $1.35 billion Danish krone (around $200 million) in revenue for the same period a year before. The company in April spent $9 million to require the intellectual property rights to its lucrative breathing circuits. And last month, Ambu completed its $16 million acquisition of the Israeli company E.T.View, which has integrated cameras into airway tubes for continuous visualization and ventilation during thoracic surgical procedures.

3. Edwards Lifesciences: +53%

Edwards (Irvine, CA) had a major win in August: expanded FDA indication for the Sapien 3, which marks the first time the agency has approved a TAVR for use in patients who only have intermediate risk of death or complications during surgery. FDA approval of the expanded indication should allow Edwards to be even more competitive against Medtronic, which entered the U.S. transcateter heart valve market in early 2014 with its CoreValve system. Before that, the Sapien had a few years in which it was the only such heart valve available in the United States.

4. Cochlear: +48%

The Australian maker of implantable hearing devices enjoyed a record profit of $189 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, up nearly a third from the previous year. Sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time. (Amounts are in Australian dollars.) A host of new product releases helped Cochlear keep its strong position in the market. CEO Chris Smith said in the company's annual report: "With global market penetration for implantable hearing solutions less than 5%, there remains a significant, unmet, and addressable clinical need that will continue to underpin the long-term sustainable growth of our business."

5. MicroPort Scientific: +45%

Started in a small office in Shanghai about 18 years ago, the Chinese medical device maker now has a global footprint and thousands of workers, making medical devices in a wide range of areas including interventional cardiology, orthopedics, interventional radiology, electrophysiology, diabetes and endocrine management, surgical management, and more. 

The Next 5 Companies on the List

  • Angiodynamics: +44%

  • Masimo: +43%

  • Align Technology: +42%

  • Centric Health: 38%

  • Ypsomed Holding: +37%

(Download Qmed's full spreadsheet of the 88 stocks + Check Out the 10 Worst-Performing Medtech Companies of Fall 2016)

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to our daily e-newsletter.

[Image from Pixabay]

Sign up for the QMED & MD+DI Daily newsletter.

You May Also Like