Top Medtech Companies Posting Solid Revenue Gains

Unlike other technology sectors that struggled through the economic doldrums of 2004, the top 20 medtech firms turned in another year of solid performance. Of these 20 companies, 18 realized year-to-year revenue gains, with 12 firms posting double-digit sales increases. Only two companies saw 2004 revenues decline as compared with 2003 (see Table).

Click to enlarge.

Boosted by sales of its market-leading Taxus drug-eluting coronary stent, Boston Scientific Corp. (Natick, MA) saw its revenues jump from $3.5 billion to $5.6 billion—a whopping increase of more than 60%. GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, UK), buoyed by its acquisition of Amersham (a top 20 company last year), reported an increase of nearly 32% in 2004 revenues. Johnson & Johnson Inc. (New Brunswick, NJ) remains the top performer, a position that is likely to strengthen, as the company’s acquisition of Guidant Corp. (Indianapolis) is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Guidant currently ranks 14th in the list of top-performing companies.

St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, MN), which is increasingly cited by industry analysts as a company to watch in the cardiovascular sector, moved up two places on the chart with its increase of nearly 19% in sales. Medtronic Inc. (Minneapolis), topping $10 billion in annual sales, showed the greatest movement, advancing to the third spot from its sixth position last year. Stryker Inc. (Kalamazoo, MI) turned in the best year-over-year performance for the high-flying orthopedics sector with an increase of nearly 18% in revenues.

With a 4.7% decrease in sales for 2004 attributed to the hotly contested medical imaging market, Siemens AG (Munich) slid from third to eighth position on the chart. Philips Medical Systems (Amsterdam), which competes in several of the same sectors as Siemens, also saw a slight slippage in sales.

Most companies continued their strong performance into the first quarter of 2005, led again by Boston Scientific, with a sales increase of more than 49%, and GE Healthcare, with an increase of more than 33% over the year-ago quarter. Kodak Health Imaging (Rochester, NY) was the only company to report a decrease in sales during the first quarter of 2005—a slight decline of just over 1%, also attributable to vagaries of the high-ticket capital equipment imaging market.

© 2005 Canon Communications LLC

Return to main menu.