Seeking Alpha: CareFusion's Strong Share Isn't Quite Enough

CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) is an interesting company in several respects. A leader in important markets like drug dispensing, infusion, and respiratory care, the company's margins and returns on capital are nevertheless not really "leader-like". What's more, there are some reasonable concerns as to whether the company's business is skewed too heavily towards capital equipment to facilitate good long-term growth. I come down basically in the middle - I like CareFusion's business well enough, but the weak ROICs and explicit intentions to be active in the M&A market lead me to demand a bigger discount to fair value before buying with my own money.

Read more here:
CareFusion's Strong Share Isn't Quite Enough

Seeking Alpha: ICU Medical Back At The Drawing Board

After years of under-investment and, in my opinion, complacency regarding its high-quality infusion business, ICU Medical (ICUI) is paying the price. Revenue declined in FY 2013 and likely will decline again in FY 2014. Some of this can be laid on the head of Hospira (HSP), a major customer that has badly mismanaged its infusion/medication management business, but the reality is that ICU Medical has had more than enough time to recognize the issues with Hospira.

Now there's a new sheriff in town, or more accurately a new CEO running the company. Vivek Jain is saying the right things about improving the company's operating performance and increasing its investment in R&D. It also sounds as though management is looking to mobilize that sizable cash hoard. ICU Medical isn't especially well-followed and the company's sluggish near-term growth prospects aren't going to help raise its profile. Even so, I think there's value here and risk-tolerant investors should take a closer look.

Please continue here:
ICU Medical Back At The Drawing Board

Seeking Alpha: For Teleflex, Small Things Add Up

If companies like Intuitive Surgical and Heartware live on the "gee whiz" end of the med-tech spectrum, Teleflex (TFX) is on the other end. That is not to say that there isn't meaningful R&D and engineering going into the company's products, but categories like central venous catheters, PICCs, Foley catheters, and endotracheal tubes just don't tend to get growth-oriented med-tech investors all that excited.

Even so, Teleflex has a lot going for it. The company has been a very willing acquirer and increased investments in R&D should lead the way to more innovative new products and market share growth. In the meantime, management is focused on operating improvements that should support double-digit earnings growth. While Teleflex does not look all that cheap on a discounted cash flow basis, the company's above-average growth prospects could maintain healthy valuation multiples.

Follow this link to continue:
For Teleflex, Small Things Add Up

The Motley Fool: Even With Growth Opportunities Ahead, Is Hospira Overvalued?

Leading specialty injectables and infusion pump manufacturer Hospira (NYSE: HSP  ) has suffered greatly from largely self-inflicted wounds over the past couple of years. A lackadaisical approach to proper plant management has led to numerous FDA warning letters at key plants and a shipment freeze on the company's pumps. Yet, Hospira remains the largest player in an industry that has attractive gross margins, significant barriers to entry, and frequent supply shortages.

Hospira seems to be on the road back, and seems to be taking seriously both the need to comply with the FDA regulations and the need to augment its long-term growth potential. The problem is that it looks like Wall Street is already many steps down that road in terms of rewarding the company with a robust valuation.

Follow this link to the full article:
Even With Growth Opportunities Ahead, Is Hospira Overvalued?

The Motley Fool: CareFusion Corporation: A Mid-Cap Med-Tech Leader

A lot of attention has historically been paid to CareFusion Corporation (NYSE: CFN  ) in the context of its place in the infusion pump oligopoly with Baxter (NYSE: BAX  ) and Hospira (NYSE: HSP  ) . There is a lot more to this story, though, as the company is a leader in medication dispensing, pre-op skin prep, and respiratory care. The acquisition of Vital Signs from General Electric will add scale in respiratory care and anesthesia, but leaves the company with enough dry powder to continue making additive deals. CareFusion is not a slam-dunk bargain, and there aren't many of those left in med-tech, but it is a name worth consideration today or at least a spot on investor watchlists.

Please continue here:
CareFusion Corporation: A Mid-Cap Med-Tech Leader

The Motley Fool: Baxter International - The Street Is Too Negative On A Proven Champ

Even though it is a large med-tech company with a market cap over $37 billion, Baxter International (NYSE: BAX  ) just doesn't seem to garner all that much investor interest, or at least not as much as peers/rivals like Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB  ) , Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO  ) , CareFusion (NYSE: CFN  ) , and Hospira (NYSE: HSP  ) . Institutions pay attention, though, and investors may be in a good position to benefit from their skepticism. While the Street is wrapped up in trying to guess just how much business Baxter will lose in its hemophilia and specialty pharmaceuticals businesses to competition, it looks as though the market may be missing the forest for the trees.

Please continue here:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/12/26/baxter-international-the-street-is-too-negative-on.aspx

MassDevice: CareFusion May Be Weighing Two Very Different Deals

At the risk of sounding a bit mean, CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) doesn't get all that much attention in the market. The company has a solid business between its operations in pharmaceutical dispensing, infusion, respiratory care, and procedural disposables, but it never really seems to get much attention unless/until there's another round of news about infusion pumps – a business where rivals like Baxter (NYSE:BAX) and Hospira (NYSE:HSP) have seen recalls that benefited CareFusion.

That has changed very recently, though, as CareFusion seems to be a key potential acquirer for at least two medical device businesses known to be on the block – ICU Medical (NSDQ:ICUI) and Smiths Group's (LON:SMIN) Smith Medical. CareFusion has long been an active acquirer and recently not only reaffirmed its commitment to future deals, but a willingness to do larger deals than before. While both ICU Medical and Smiths Medical make solid sense for CareFusion, both deals have certain drawbacks as well.

Please continue on here:
http://www.massdevice.com/blogs/massdevice/carefusion-may-be-weighing-2-very-different-deals

Seeking Alpha: CareFusion On The Right Path

This recent melt-up in the market has left relatively few undervalued opportunities in the med-tech sector. While there are still some bargains to be had at the various market cap levels, it's not altogether unfair to say that anything that looks notably cheap today is cheap for a reason. With that in mind, it's not so surprising that CareFusion (CFN) shares don't offer huge upside from today's level. That said, I like the moves that management has made here and if the market (or med-tech sector) were to sell off significantly, this would be a name well worth considering.

Please continue here:
CareFusion On The Right Path

Seeking Alpha: The Street Is Much Too Optimistic About Hospira

It's probably true that a company would be hard-pressed to do worse than Hospira (HSP) has managed in recent years, but it doesn't automatically follow that conditions will get quite a bit better. Hospira certainly could be a better company in a few years' time, but "could" is a dangerous word when it comes to investing. So although I am bullish on Hospira's opportunities in biosimilars, I struggle to come up with a scenario where this stock is priced to outperform.

Continue reading here:
The Street Is Much Too Optimistic About Hospira

Seeking Alpha: ICU Medical's Growth Needs Some Intensive Care

ICU Medical (ICUI) is a company likely to toil in near-obscurity for the foreseeable future. The company does most of what it does exceptionally well, but it strikes many as a dull business. While that doesn't seem to be a problem at companies like Bard (BCR) or Becton Dickinson (BDX), ICU Medical is relatively illiquid, under-followed, and still fairly volatile when it comes to earnings performance. All of that said, this is still a company that belongs on the watchlists of value-oriented med-tech investors.

Click here for more:
ICU Medical's Growth Needs Some Intensive Care

Seeking Alpha: Baxter Still Defensive, But Is Now The Time For Offense?

The best thing about Baxter (BAX) is that so much of its business comes from oligopolistic markets with pretty steady demand and reimbursement. The worst thing about Baxter is that so much of its business comes from oligopolistic markets with pretty steady demand and reimbursement.

In theory, Baxter is a good stock to own during slow patches in the med-tech world because the demand for profitable businesses like infusion, recombinants, plasma-derived therapies, and other bioscience products doesn't drop much with the economy, and Baxter reports growth while others contract . On the flip side, the company has historically not looked to target new growth markets, and the company's growth looks pretty pokey when the sector revives.

With a few signs of life here and there in med-tech, as well as oncoming competition in biosciences, it is worth asking whether Baxter is still a name that investors want to hold today.

Read more here:
Baxter Still Defensive, But Is Now The Time For Offense?

Seeking Alpha: ICU Medical Offers A Tricky Trade At These Levels

ICU Medical (ICUI) is an uncommonly squirrely stock. Although infusion therapy and critical care products are not exactly missionary sales, ICU Medical's stock as been uncommonly volatile due in large part to unpredictable sales trends. What that means for investors is that they have to fight their instincts and get bold during the tough quarters and get a little cautious when the stock is doing especially well.

Reasonable Performance For Q1
ICU Medical's performance in the first quarter was solid, albeit not spectacular. Overall revenue rose nearly 6% and slightly beat the average sell-side guess. Infusion therapy sales were pretty solid (up nearly 10%), and oncology continues to grow nicely (up 30%), but critical care is still the problem child (down over 14%).

Please continue here:
ICU Medical Offers A Tricky Trade At These Levels

Seeking Alpha: Becton Dickinson Too Beloved For Now

In a market that has offered up plenty of values in med-tech, investors may do well to draw lines between quality and value. There is no question that Becton Dickinson (BDX) is a very good (and very stable) company with substantial market share in a host of profitable sectors. The problem, though, is that there is no shortage of love for this name and no pressing need to buy the stock at current prices.

First Quarter Results Point To One Big Challenge
Perhaps the biggest issue for BD today is producing the sort of growth that it takes to get institutional investors excited and eager to push up the valuation. Reported growth in the fiscal first quarter was just 2.5%, which was at the high end of expectations, but not all that scintillating.

Growth was relatively well-balanced. The smallest division, Biosciences, was also the weakest, as growth was just about 1%. Medical and Diagnostics were relatively stronger, both growing about 3%. Encouragingly, two of the company's strongest business from a platform standpoint, diabetes and diagnostics, were also the strongest from a top-line perspective (growing 6% and 5%, respectively). At the same time, the 2% Med Surg growth was not so bad relative to low procedure counts and the numbers reported from the comparable units at Covidien (COV) and CareFusion (CFN).

Please continue here:
Becton Dickinson Too Beloved For Now

Seeking Alpha: CareFusion Deserves Another Chance

By and large, it's hard to feel sorry for, or be patient with, companies where the wounds are largely self-inflicted. Still, when a company has significant market share in multiple markets of size, investors would do well to keep an eye on the story. To that end,
CareFusion (CFN) has disappointed investors recently, but the long-term potential of this company is still quite a bit more than is reflected in the stock today.

Not Many Surprises In The Second Quarter
Given that CareFusion warned about this quarter's results, there weren't a lot of surprises in store when the final results came out. Revenue rose a bit more than 3%, with organic revenue up a little less than 3%. Growth was led by a fine performance in Medical Systems; revenue rose more than 9% on solid growth across dispensing, infusion, and respiratory. Procedural was the problem child - sales fell 2% on an adjusted basis as decent ChloraPrep results (up 5-6%) were offset by weakness in various disposables.

Please follow the link for more:
CareFusion Deserves Another Chance

Seeking Alpha: Hill-Rom Needs Bedrest, But Should Recover

If you're going to run a boring business in med-tech, you had better run it well or nobody will care about the stock. Hill-Rom (HRC) is undoubtedly in a boring business (hospital beds, movement products, surfaces, and so on), but the execution has been more mixed. Margins here are broadly inferior to many other durable equipment companies and the company has lost some of its strangle-hold on the market to Stryker (SYK). With management giving a disappointing early look at first quarter numbers and trimming full-year expectations, Hill-Rom's stock may be on its back for a little while.


Fiscal First Quarter Earnings Following A Trend
Hill-Rom announced late Tuesday that results for the first quarter were going to come in short of Wall Street expectations. Revenue apparently came in at about $381 million, matching the low end of the analyst range and representing just 2% constant currency growth. Earnings are also going to miss, with the company expecting $0.52 or $0.53 instead of the average estimate of $0.55.

Read more here:
Hill-Rom Needs Bedrest, But Should Recover

Investopedia: If CareFusion Can Execute, This Is A Major Bargain

Admittedly, it's not hard to create a basket of too-cheap health care stocks, today, and almost every one of these stories has a sizable "but." In the case of CareFusion (NYSE:CFN), though, slimming down that "but" seems relatively manageable. The company still has a ways to go in improving its returns on capital, but CareFusion's market positioning should make solid returns achievable. However, Wall Street presently gives CareFusion little credit.

A Mixed Start to the Year 

For its first fiscal quarter, CareFusion reported that revenue rose 4%. Growth was led by the "Medical Systems" business at 9%, while the "Procedural Solutions" business saw revenue decline 2%. Dispensing technologies, which is part of Medical Systems, saw 16% reported topline growth. Infusion was surprisingly strong at 7%, while respiratory care and specialty disposables were laggards.

Follow this link for the full article:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/If-CareFusion-Can-Execute-This-Is-A-Major-Bargain-CFN-HSP-BAX-BCR-ICUI-JNJ-BDX1109.aspx

Investopedia: Becton Dickinson Moves The Bar Lower

There are only so many times you can lament the malaise in the health care sector, but the fact is that it is a macro trend that is impacting almost every large company in the space. Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) is built as a company with solid exposure to patient visit and procedure trends and that is working against the company now, as baseline procedure trends are weak and the company's pipeline is in a lull. While there is value here, investors could be looking at a stagnant stock for a little while.

A Mediocre End to the Year 

BD delivered a mixed end to its fiscal year, slightly beating on the top line and missing slightly on the bottom. Reported revenue growth surpassed 9%, but constant-currency growth was a much more modest 4% and U.S. growth was just barely above 1%. What growth there was, was remarkably balanced across the three major units: BD Medical and BD Diagnostics both posted 3.8% constant currency revenue growth, while Bioscience grew 4.7%.

Read the full article at Investopedia:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Becton-Dickinson-Moves-The-Bar-Lower-BDX-BAX-CFN-CPHD-GPRO-QGEN-ABT1104.aspx

Investopedia: Bizarre Baxter

What exactly is Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) supposed to be? It has a huge business in biological therapies for conditions like hemophilia, but also a sizable business in medical devices and equipment. It's not priced as a value stock, it's dividend is too low for an income stock, but it doesn't really grow enough to be a med-tech growth story. All in all, Baxter is a consummate "neither fish nor fowl" company, but that does not mean that it is not worth a serious look from investors looking for a quality health-care name with growth potential. 

A Challenging Third Quarter  
Analysts seemed positive on Baxter's third quarter results, but it is not immediately clear as to why they should be. Organic revenue growth was just 4% - maybe not terrible in the context of a tough health-care market that has laid low even Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), but not exactly torrid either.

Read the full piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Bizarre-Baxter-Struggle-To-Grow-BAX-NVO-NXTM-FMS1026.aspx

Seeking Alpha: TIme To Board The ICU Medical Roller Coaster

Prior to the Great Recession, healthcare enjoyed a somewhat inflated reputation for its steady-eddy revenue and earnings. Since then, investors have learned that patient visit counts and hospital capital budgets can create quite a bit of volatility – look no further than the muted performance at major device companies like Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), or Bard (NYSE: BCR).

And then there's ICU Medical (Nasdaq: ICUI). Flying in the face of conventional rules about how medical device companies are supposed to act, this has often been a volatile performer in terms of its reported results and the long-term stock action reflects that. With financial performance looking a little haggard, but the company's competitive position still fairly strong, this may well be one of those periodic opportunities to pick up shares in an oft-overlooked small-cap med-tech player.

To read more, follow this link:
Time To Board The ICU Medical Roller Coaster

Investopedia: CareFusion Looking Safe And Sound

There is ample evidence out there that these are not good times for health care companies, so it makes sense for investors to play defense. That makes CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) an interesting opportunity in today's environment. As the company continues to find its way after spinning out from Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH), CareFusion offers investors a chance to buy into not only a modest topline growth story, but an improving margin story as well - and all at a very reasonable price. 

A Decent End to the Fiscal Year  
To be sure, CareFusion is not going to excite the growth crowd. Top-line growth for the fourth fiscal quarter was just 3.7%, and only about 2% on a constant currency basis. Growth was helped by better than 7% growth in the critical care business (where infusion grew by double-digits) and offset by an 8% contraction in med tech/services where 14% growth in ChloraPrep was overpowered by divestitures. On a like-for-like basis, this segment would have grown about 5% this quarter. 


Continue through the link below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/CareFusion-Looking-Safe-And-Sound-CFN-CAH-BAX-HSP-RMD0810.aspx