Gold prices bounce off 3-week lows; demand likely longer term
Investing.com -- Wolfe Research upgraded Medtronic plc to Peer Perform from Underperform saying that an expected ramp‑up of its Affera pulsed‑field ablation (PFA) system could add up to two percentage points to organic revenue and help the medical‑device maker exceed its own 5% growth target in fiscal 2026.
Affera’s contribution means “everything else” would need to grow only about 3‑4% to meet guidance, a level the rest of the portfolio has delivered over the past two quarters, according to analyst.
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) shares are up 1% at $86.9 on Monday, have fallen about 5% since Wolfe first put an Underperform rating on the stock three years ago, lagging the S&P 500 Health Care index by roughly 37 points over that period.
The brokerage still sees structural risks, including surgical‑robot competition from Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) and share losses in diabetes devices.
It also warned that Medtronic’s valuation – about 15 times projected 2026 earnings, versus 11 times for other slow‑growth med‑tech peers, could compress if execution slips.
Wolfe’s upgrade is not a call that “the stock is fixed forever,” the note said, but reflects a more favourable skew to near‑term estimates thanks to Affera and “a decent‑sized list of lesser good guys” that could give the company a pulse after years of underperformance.