NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Boston Scientific Corp. traded higher Tuesday after a Credit Suisse analyst upgraded the stock, saying the company's revenue should improve starting in 2014.
THE SPARK: Analyst Bruce Nudell raised his rating to "Outperform" from "Neutral" and increased his price target to $7.50 per share from $6. The company's sales fell from 2010 to 2012, but Nudell said revenue from implantable heart devices and drug coated stents should pick up, and new products will assist the company's growth.
The analyst said he expects greater sales of asthma treatment products, new types of heart defibrillator and valve replacement devices, and high blood pressure systems.
THE BIG PICTURE: Many of the products Nudell discussed have been acquired by Boston Scientific in the last few years. In October 2010 the company bought Asthmatx, which developed a system designed to reduce the frequency of severe asthma attacks by delivering thermal energy to the walls of the airway. The deal could be worth more than $440 million.
In June Boston Scientific bought Cameron Health, a company that developed an implantable defibrillator which uses electrodes that don't directly touch the heart or blood vessels. The Food and Drug Administration approved Cameron's device, called an S-ICD, or subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator, in late September. The deal could be worth more than $1 billion if the device reaches sales targets.
In November the Natick, Mass., company bought Vessix Vascular in a deal that could be worth up to $425 million. Vessix developed a device that uses radiotherapy to treat high blood pressure. Its renal denervation device uses catheters to send radio frequencies to nerves in the renal system that can cause high blood pressure when they are overactive.
That type of high blood pressure doesn't respond to medication.
SHARE ACTION: Shares of Boston Scientific rose 19 cents, or 3 percent, to close at $6.51. The shares have advanced almost 25 percent since Nov. 20.
