Edwards Lifesciences Hits a 52-Week High on Solid Prospects

On Oct 11, shares of Edwards Lifesciences EW reached a new 52-week high of $230.19, closing the session slightly lower at $227.11. The rally was fueled by the recent release of impressive results.

Edwards Lifesciences had a great run on the bourses in the past year. The stock has returned 60.2% against the broader industry’s decline of 0.2%

Considering this, one may expect the company to scale new highs in the upcoming quarters. Further, the company has average positive earnings surprise of 4.3% for the trailing four quarters. A positive growth rate of 14.9% for the next five years also instills optimism.

Estimate revision trends for the next year look impressive. In the past month, one estimate has moved north, while none have moved in the opposite direction. Estimates inched up 0.2% in the past month.

Factors Working in Favor

Let’s take a look at the growth propellers.

Regulatory Go-Aheads: Market is upbeat about Edwards Lifesciences’ receipt of FDA approval in August 2019 for expanding the use of its flagship SAPIEN 3 and SAPIEN 3 Ultra transcatheter heart valve systems to treat severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis in patients who face a low risk of open-heart surgery. In May 2019, the company received FDA approval for CLASP IIF, a prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled pivotal trial studying the PASCAL system.

Favorable Outcomes of Clinical Studies: In September 2019, the global major released new data highlighting early and sustained improvements of health status in patients of severe aortic stenosis at low surgical risk who have received treatment with the Edwards SAPIEN 3 valve. This has also lifted the stock to a 52-week high.

Strategic Acquisition: Investors have been optimistic about Edwards Lifesciences’ prospects in the critical care market since the global major closed the deal to acquire CAS Medical Systems (CASMED) in April 2019. The latter is a medical technology company which specializes in non-invasive brain and tissue oxygenation monitoring.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Edwards Lifesciences currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Stryker SYK, Medtronic MDT and Varian VAR. While Varian has a Zacks Rank #1(Strong Buy), each of the other two carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stryker’s long-term earnings growth rate is expected to be 10.04%.

Medtronic’s long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 7.32%.

Varian’s long-term earnings growth rate is expected to be 8%.

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