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Mazor (MZOR) Gets FDA Clearance For Mazor X Align Software

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Israel-based developer of robotic technology and products, Mazor Robotics Ltd. , recently announced that it has received the FDA clearance for its Mazor X Align software.

Stock Performance

Lately, the price performance of Mazor X has been encouraging. In the last three months, the stock increased 37.15%, outperforming the Zacks classified Medical Instruments sub-industry’s gain of roughly 3.32%. Moreover, the stock’s return was higher than the S&P 500’s return of 2.75% over the same time frame.

Despite the bullish price trend, estimate revision for the stock has been quite disappointing. The full year saw two estimates moving south in the last two months compared with no movement in the opposite direction. As a result, the estimate dropped to a loss of 91 cents per share from a loss of only 67 cents per share over the aforementioned period. These bearish sentiments justify the stock’s Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).


Mazor X Align software is designed to assist surgeons in planning spinal deformity correction and spinal alignment for procedures performed with the Mazor X Surgical Assurance Platform.

The new software will be demonstrated at the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting in Los Angeles, CA, from Apr 22–26. Mazor X Align will be initially released to select Mazor X customers in early May. This will be followed by a widespread release in the second half of 2017.

Mazor X Surgical Assurance Platform is a transformative guidance system for simplifying spine surgeries with advanced features and “sophisticated integrative abilities”. Strong demand for Mazor X systems during the first quarter brought the total number of its orders to 40 since its introduction in the second half of 2016. The company ended the first quarter with an order backlog of 14 Mazor X systems and expects to deliver these in 2017. It is slated to report financial results for the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2017 in May.
 
Bottom Line

We also encouraged by the opportunities in the global spine surgery market. A research report by Markets And Markets suggests that the niche markets are estimated to reach $17.27 billion by 2021, multiplying at a CAGR of 5.3%.

In fact, the increasing utilization rate of Mazor X is quite compelling for the company. We believe that the commercialization cycle of Mazor X is progressing as planned with a growing customer base.

Meanwhile, the Medtronic agreement paves the way for the development of synergistic products utilizing Mzaor Robotics’ precision guided surgery know-how, advanced software capabilities and the company’s implant product portfolio.

Key Picks

Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector include Inogen Inc. (INGN - Free Report) , Hologic, Inc. (HOLX - Free Report) and Sunshine Heart Inc . Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Inogen has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 17.50%. The stock registered an impressive one-year return of 64.2%.

Hologic has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 11.33%. The stock registered a solid one-year return of roughly 21.3%.

Sunshine Heart posted a positive earnings surprise of 58.24% in the last reported quarter. The stock has a stellar EPS growth record (last 3–5 years of actual earnings) of almost 22%.

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