St. Jude has hope for ICDs
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
The global ICD market in the second quarter "was flat to up slightly" compared with the same prior-year period, CFO John Heinmiller says during a July 19 earnings call. Last quarter, St. Jude forecasted that the market for ICDs worldwide would grow in the range of 5%-7% in Q2, with 11%-13% accelerated growth in the second half of the year (1"The Gray Sheet" April 24, 2006, p. 8). CEO Dan Starks remains confident that the U.S. ICD market will rebound "to support at least low double-digit growth on a global basis;" however, he now projects that this will not occur until 2007. St. Jude still raked in $278 mil. in ICD sales, an increase of 14% over the same period a year ago. The firm concludes it gained 0.5%-1% of ICD market share during the quarter, although Boston Scientific and Medtronic have yet to report their results. Nonetheless, the company down-adjusted its full-year guidance for global ICD revenue...