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Here's Why You Should Invest in Align Technology (ALGN) Now

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Align Technology, Inc. (ALGN - Free Report) has been gaining investors’ confidence on consistently positive results. Over the past three months, the company’s share price has outperformed its industry. The stock has gained 41%, compared to the industry’s 7.8%. The company has also outperformed the 5.7% gain of the S&P 500 market as well.

This leading manufacturer and marketer of a system of clear aligner therapy, intra-oral scanners and CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) digital services used in dentistry, orthodontics and dental records storage has a market cap of $27.42 billion. The company’s five-year historical growth rate is also favorable at 25.5% compared with the industry’s 5.1%.

With solid prospects, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock is an attractive pick for investors at the moment.

The company’s earnings estimate revision trend for the current year has been positive. In the past 60 days, three analysts revised their estimates upward, with no movement in the opposite direction. Resultantly, earnings estimates increased around 0.6% to $4.75 per share.

Further, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year revenues of $1.95 billion reflects an improvement of 32.2% year over year.

Per our Zacks Style Score  system, Align Technology has a Growth Score of A which reflects the company’s solid prospects. Our research shows that stocks with a Growth Style Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 offer the best upside potential.

Let’s find out whether the recent positive trend is a sustainable one.

Solid Global Prospects

Align Technology has undertaken several strategies to drive adoption of InvisAlign Technology that includes product/technology development, extending clinical effectiveness, extension of the InvisAlign Technology brand and driving international growth.

On a year-over-year basis, Align Technology’s international InvisAlign Technology volumes in the last reported quarter were up 43.4%, reflecting continued strong performance in EMEA and APAC regions. In EMEA, the company witnessed solid adoption of InvisAlign Technology in the markets ofIberia and France as well as rapid growth in smaller markets like Eastern Europe and Central Europe along with Benelux.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the company delivered solid performance led by China, Japan and Australia.

Expanding Invisalign Portfolio

Align Technology’s Invisalign portfolio offers orthodontic treatment to straighten teeth without metal braces.

In a bid to broaden its flagship Invisalign portfolio, the company recently announced the addition of Invisalign First clear aligners for treatment of younger patients with early mixed dentition. The company planned to commercially launch the offering for Invisalign-trained doctors in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the EMEA region starting July 2018. At the same time, the company extended its Invisalign clear aligner range with the latest launch of Vivera Retainers with Precision Bite Ramps.

Solid developments in Invisalign are likely to lendAlign Technology a competitive edge in the U.S. MedTech space.

Growing iTero Portfolio

Align Technology has been focusing on expanding work flow options of its leading iTero scanners.  Further, Align Technology announced the receipt of China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) approval to commercially launch the iTero Element intraoral scanner in China.

We are also upbeat about the company expanding the iTero Element portfolio with the launch of iTero Element 2 and iTero Element Flex scanners in the United States and majority of European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Align Technology also announced plans to launch a Invisalign Go product with an improved user-interface in iTero digital chairside experience and increased flexibility for treating variety of mild to moderate cases.

Other Key Picks

Other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Genomic Health , Abiomed and Stryker Corporation (SYK - Free Report) .

Genomic Health has an expected earnings growth rate of 187.5% for the current quarter. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Abiomed has a projected long-term earnings growth rate of 27% and a Zacks Rank of 1.

Stryker has a projected long-term earnings growth rate of 9.7%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank of 2.

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