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5 MedTech Momentum Picks Investors Will Love

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The MedTech space received a sudden jolt on late night Thursday when White House pulled the plug on Obamacare subsidies that reduce health care costs for Americans with low incomes. This comes as no surprise for the lukewarm response to its replacement, The American Health Care Act (AHCA), has forced Republicans to continue to seek new avenues. In a bid to save its face, the Trump administration attempted a “skinny" repeal bill along with a Graham-Cassidy bill, which failed to make any headway in the senate.

We believe that the impasse is slated to continue as President Trump has always been an outspoken critic of the ACA. Our apprehension comes from the uncertainty regarding the outcome of a slew of events. This includes the possibility of a rate hike by the Fed, a stronger dollar, and the stance of healthcare insurance companies over ACA. These are expected to spark bouts of volatility.

As of now, plenty of speculation has been made regarding the extent of interest rate hike by the Fed before the end of the year. Though, the Federal Reserve officials remained largely divided over raising interest rates, majority of the bankers vouched in favor of raising rates. The ones debating against increasing rates stated that hiking rates at a time when inflation is lower than the target of 2% — an indication of a healthy economy — might cause major setbacks to the U.S. economy. However, investors may also feel that, even if Fed decides to increase rate, it will hardly have any impact over the long term.

Nevertheless, it would be foolish to claim that volatility has vanished from the market, just because the global market has started to recover since yesterday. No doubt, such market uncertainty has made investors increasingly cautious about spending on stocks.

Interestingly in this phase of massive global sell-offs, the MedTech sector has not only held its own, but also maintained a stable uptrend. This is based on some of its powerful long-term tailwinds, including mergers & acquisitions, emerging market expansion, positive demographic trends and innovation of new products.

In fact a closer look at this sector’s history will reveal the companies’ undaunting spirit to expand their business whatever the market scenario is. Despite political conundrum over Obamacare, we have witnessed some big cross-border mergers in recent times like the impending take over of C.R. Bard Inc by Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX - Free Report) .

What’s the Rewarding Strategy?  

We believe investors can earn handsome profits by extrapolating the current bullish trends of the market into the future. Henceforth, seeking refuge in momentum investment strategy is a strategic investment gamble at this moment.

However, picking the right momentum stocks may baffle seasoned investors, let alone the new ones, who are planning to enter the uncharted world of jam-packed trades.

Here, at Zacks, we use our Style Score System to single out stocks which can aid in beating the market.

The Zacks Momentum Style Score indicates when the timing is best to grab a stock and take advantage of its momentum with the highest probability of success.

Our Picks

Amid the present volatility across the global economy, we have found a handful of top Zacks Rank momentum stocks for you from the Medical Devices space that are going to gain from this share market turbulence. With a Style Score of B or better combined with favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), these stocks are looking especially impressive right now. Below we have cited 5 stocks that are worth a look before you invest:

Steris Plc (STE - Free Report) : The company, based in Ohio, develops, manufactures and markets infection prevention, decontamination, microbial reduction, and surgical and gastrointestinal support products and services. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The metrics that make this leading scientific instrument provider all the more desirable are:
    Momentum Score of B
    Zacks Rank #2
    Market Cap: $7.70 billion

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH - Free Report) : LabCorp is a leading healthcare diagnostics company, headquartered in Burlington, NC, providing comprehensive clinical laboratory services and end-to-end drug development support. The metrics that make the company more attractive are:
    Momentum Score of A   
    Zacks Rank #2
    Market Cap: $15.44 billion

Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS - Free Report) : Fresenius Medical Care (FMS - Free Report) , based in Bad Homburg, Germany, is one of the largest integrated providers of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis following chronic kidney failure. The metrics that make this company all the more desirable are:
    Momentum Score of B
    Zacks Rank #2
    Market Cap: $30.13 billion

Quidel Corporation (QDEL - Free Report) : Quidel, based in San Diego, CA, discovers, develops, manufactures and markets point-of-care, rapid diagnostic tests for detection of medical conditions and illnesses. These products provide accurate, rapid and cost-effective diagnostic information for acute and chronic conditions that affect women's health throughout the phases of their lives including reproductive status, pregnancy management and osteoporosis. The metrics that make Quidel an attractive choice are:
    Momentum Score of B
    Zacks Rank #2
    Market Cap: $1.44 billion

ConforMIS Inc. : The medical technology company, based in Bedford, MA,  develops, manufactures and sells joint replacement implants. The company's iFit technology platform consists of iFit Design, iFit Printing and iFit Just-in-Time Delivery. The company serves orthopedic surgeons, hospitals and other medical facilities and patients. The metrics that make the company more attractive are:
    Momentum Score of B
    Zacks Rank #2
    Market Cap: $185.17 Million

Bottom Line

You can find stocks with good momentum scores any time of the year, but the present market scenario makes the task a little difficult. All of the aforementioned stocks may not be big, but they can certainly make an impact in the MedTech sector. If the worldwide bullish market continues for a few more days, these stocks have a high chance of performing well in the near future.  

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