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Here's Why You Should Retain Glaukos (GKOS) Stock Right Now

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Glaukos Corporation (GKOS - Free Report) is well-poised for growth backed by strength in iStent technology and robust product portfolio. However, stiff competition remains a concern.

The stock has soared 184.1% compared with the industry’s growth of 48.1% in a year’s time. Also, the S&P 500 Index has rallied 61.7% in the same time frame.

Glaukos Corporation — with a market capitalization of $4.01 billion — is a leading ophthalmic medical technology and pharmaceutical company. It anticipates earnings to improve 31.8% in the first quarter of 2021. Moreover, the company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise 42.6%, on average.



Let’s take a closer look at the factors that substantiate the company’s Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Factor Hurting the Stock

Glaukos’ competitors include medical companies, academic and research institutions or others that develop new drugs, therapies medical devices or surgical procedures to treat glaucoma. Therefore, intense competition continues to weigh on the company’s overall performance.

Key Catalysts

Glaukos’ flagship iStent is the first FDA-approved surgical device available for insertion in conjunction with cataract surgery. This is done for the reduction of intraocular pressure in adult patients with mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma.

Management at Glaukos continues to remain optimistic about the prospects in the iStent platform worldwide, including the emerging economies. Per the fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call, the company successfully launched the iStent W in the United States and key international markets comprising various European countries, Japan, and Australia.

Further, the company expects that a robust pipeline of new product launches can substantially expand its market opportunities. With the targeted launches of MicroShunt in late 2020 to early 2021, iStent infinite in late 2021 and Epi-ON and iDose TR in 2022, and promising longer-term programs of iStent SA, iDose TREX, iDose Rock and the IOP Sensor program, Glaukos believes that it is well-positioned to drive sustainable long-term growth in its glaucoma franchise in the near term.

Estimates Trend

For 2021, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $292.9 million, indicating growth of 30.2% from the year-ago period. The bottom line is pegged at a loss of $1.04 per share.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Hologic, Inc. (HOLX - Free Report) , IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX - Free Report) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Hologic’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 15.4%.

IDEXX’s long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 15.8%.

Abbott’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 14.1%.

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