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ABIOMED (ABMD) Banks on Impella Platform, Forex a Concern

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On Apr 7, we issued an updated research report on Danvers, MA-based ABIOMED, Inc. , a leading medical product developer. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

We believe that robust demand for the Impella product line will continue to drive ABIOMED’s top line over the long term. Impella is a percutaneously inserted ventricular assist device (VAD) that has been increasingly used in patients with severe heart failure, cardiogenic shock and high-risk percutaneous intervention (PCI).

ABIOMED will continue to leverage on the growing number of patients suffering from coronary heart diseases (CHD) in the U.S. Meanwhile, Impella revenues grew a strong 35% globally to $109.2 million in the last quarter.

The company recently announced the release of a new study on Circulation Research (a biweekly medical journal) that demonstrates the efficiency of Impella 2.5 heart pump device in reducing the risk of acute kidney injury during high-risk PCI.

In fact, both Impella 2.5 and CP continued to add new centers in the U.S in the last quarter. New publications regarding the devices in leading medical journals help promote their utilization and effectiveness.

Although ABIOMED ‘s significant international presence helps broaden its customer base among other positives, fluctuations in currency exchange rates can adversely impact the company’s international sales. With Europe as a strong base for the company’s growing business opportunities, sluggishness in the European economy is likely to mar revenues and earnings.

Of the other major headwinds, ABIOMED is likely to face increasing pricing pressure due to growing competition in its key markets. We expect this to hurt margins going forward. Moreover, continued investments will drag down profitability, at least in the near term.

Share Price Trend

ABIOMED has had an impressive run on the bourse on a year-to-date basis. The company gained 11.3%, higher than the Zacks categorized Medical instruments sub-industry’s addition of almost 5.2%.

Notably, ABIOMED’s streak of positive earnings surprises is noteworthy, which accounts for an average beat of 16.4% over the last four quarters. ABIOMED posted a stellar third quarter of fiscal 2017, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both the counts.

Stocks to Consider

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

Inogen has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 17.50%. The stock represents an impressive one-year return of 67.2%.

Hologic has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 11.33%. The stock has a stellar one-year return of roughly 22%.

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

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