ResMed (RMD) Hits a New 52-Week High: What's Driving It?

On Aug 13, shares of ResMed Inc RMD reached a new 52-week high of $135.45, closing the session marginally lower at $134.99. The stock hit the high following impressive fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings results.

ResMed has had a great run on the bourses in the past year. The stock has returned 26% compared with the broader industry’s rally of 5.9%.

Considering this, one may expect the company to scale new highs in the upcoming quarters. Further, the company delivered average positive earnings surprise of 3.9% in the trailing four quarters. A positive growth rate of 10.6% for the next five years also instills optimism.

The estimate revision trend for the current year looks impressive. In the last two months, four estimates have moved north, while one moved in the opposite direction.

Factors Driving ResMed

Let’s take a look at the possible growth propellers.

Product Portfolio Expansion: Market seems to be upbeat about ResMed’s recent launch of a series of sleep apnea products. This includes the introduction of the company’s second top-of-head-connected CPAP mask, a new nasal pillows option, AirFit P30i in April.The same month, Brightree,a subsidiary of ResMed, introduced Advanced Analytics, the first analytics platform for home medical equipment (HME) that facilitates workflow insights, KPI tracking and peer benchmarking, without necessitating users to aggregate the data themselves. In March, the company launched its automated ResMed ReSupply solution for all U.S. HME providers to improve sleep apnea patients’ adherence to long-term CPAP therapy.

 

Positive Study Outcome: Investors have been optimistic about the company’s growth prospects since the release of study results which have highlighted that remote monitoring and patient self-monitoring can improve CPAP adherence for patients of sleep apnea.

Strategic Acquisition: ResMed’s recent acquisition of HB Healthcare, to offer treatment to South Korean patients of sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has also contributed to the 52-week high.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

ResMed currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Medtronic MDT, Baxter BAX and NuVasive Corporation NUVA. Each of these companies carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy)  stocks here.

Medtronic’s long-term earnings growth rate is expected at 7.13%.

Baxter’s long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 12.8%.

NuVasive’s long-term earnings growth rate is expected to be 12.75%.

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