Is Medtronic a Buy? What Analyst Day Revealed (Motley Fool)
Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT ) June 6 analyst day was by no means light fare, as the company crammed quite a bit of information into more than seven hours. While action-oriented investors are likely disappointed that management's commentary would seem to suggest a bid for Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN ) is not too likely, management laid out a vision of an evolving global device market where Medtronic is likely to be among the few players with the scale to really cover all of the major bases. While Medtronic shares do not appear priced for supreme near-term market outperformance, they still make sense within a diversified portfolio that tends toward the conservative.
R&D drives the bus
Comparing drug companies to device companies is tricky on multiple levels, but I think it is still significant to note that major device companies like Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson(NYSE: JNJ ) have not resorted to slashing R&D to improve margins. Internal R&D still remains a key driver for leading medical device franchises like Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, Covidien (NYSE: COV ) , and Stryker (NYSE: SYK ) , and those wh...
