Boston Scientific Expects Strong Gains in 2025: Time to Buy the Stock?

Boston Scientific Corporation BSX, despite industrywide macroeconomic upheavals,  has been seeing strong growth momentum across its target markets. Earlier this month, the company posted robust fourth-quarter 2024 results, surpassing market expectations and setting a positive outlook for 2025. These have led to upward revisions in analyst estimates.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2025 earnings per share has been revised upward by 3 cents over the past 60 days, with six analysts upgrading their estimates and no movement in the opposite direction.For 2025, the consensus mark for earnings per share has moved 3% north in the same time frame following 11 upward estimate revisions. The favorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ confidence in the stock.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFavorable Share PerformanceAs of Feb. 20, 2025, Boston Scientific's stock is trading at $105.67, reflecting a year-to-date increase of 18.9%. This compares favorably with the Zacks Medical Products industry’s 9.5% growth and the S&P 500's 4.2% rise. During this period, the Medical sector has risen 4.7%. Despite the challenges within the medical device space, the company has done well, banking on its above-market performances in the fourth quarter of 2024 across several of its core segments, fueled by innovation, clinical evidence generation and strong marketing strategies.Notably, BSX has also outperformed its direct peers and MedTech behemoths like Abbott ABT, Medtronic MDT and Becton Dickinson and Company or BD BDX year to date. During the said time frame, ABT has gained 17.4%, MDT has risen 8.9% and BDX has edged up 0.3%.YTD Share Price ComparisonImage Source: Zacks Investment ResearchBSX Ahead of Moving Averages TooGoing by the technical indicators, the stock is trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating robust upward momentum and price stability. In fact, since Nov. 25, 2022, its 50-day moving average has been ahead of the 200-day moving average. This technical strength reflects the market’s confidence in Boston Scientific’s financial health and fundamentals. This can be good news for BSX investors, signaling “support” for a further uptrend.50 & 200 Day SMAsImage Source: Zacks Investment ResearchQ4 TakeawaysDespite macroeconomic headwinds in the form of rising inflationary pressure and supply issues, Boston Scientific continued its strong momentum, backed by innovation, strategic acquisitions and expanding market presence.The emerging market registered sturdy growth, primarily banking on continued broad-based momentum across the company’s business and investment in this region. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Boston Scientific has been successfully expanding its base banking on its diverse portfolio, new launches and commercial execution with healthy underlying market demand.In Asia Pacific (APAC), Boston Scientific registered strong growth in China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand and grew 12% operationally in the fourth quarter despite recent volume-based procurement (VBP) implementations. In Japan, strong contributions from AGENT DCB, Rezum, WATCHMAN FLEX Pro and a very early contribution from FARAPULSE drove growth.The company recognized strong worldwide demand for its MedSurg and Cardiovascular lines, traction in the United States and outside for its next-generation WATCHMAN FLX and FLX Pro, as well as contribution from accretive acquisitions like Silk Road, Axonics and Cortex.Promising Outlook Drives Investors' ConfidenceBoston Scientific expects organic revenue growth of 14% to 16% in the first quarter and 10% to 12% for full-year 2025, driven by its expanding portfolio and the global execution of strategies. The company forecasts first-quarter adjusted EPS between 66 cents and 68 cents. Full-year EPS is projected in the range of $2.80-$2.87, implying 12% to 14% growth over 2024.Operational revenues are set to rise 18% to 20% in the first quarter, factoring in contributions from recent acquisitions. Despite minor headwinds from foreign exchange and tariffs, Boston Scientific anticipates 50 to 75 basis points in adjusted operating margin expansion. With a forecasted 12.5% adjusted tax rate and a manageable tariff impact, the company remains confident about sustaining differentiated financial performance throughout 2025.The Pain and Brain franchises are particularly expected to gain solid traction in 2025 due to the strong execution of core growth strategies. The Electrophysiology arm is expected to gain momentum on the sustained adoption of FARAPULSE PFA.Strong Price UpsideBased on short-term price targets by 27 analysts, Boston Scientific's average target price is $117.63, reflecting a 10.83%potential upside from its last closing price of $106.14.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchWhy BSX is a Buy NowBoston Scientific delivered a strong fourth-quarter 2024 performance and issued a bullish 2025 guidance, signaling continued growth. The company continues to outperform its peers in a challenging market for medical devices, driven by its continued efforts to optimize business to achieve sustainable profitability and stable liquidity.Strong international sales, strategic acquisitions and expansion in emerging markets drive long-term potential despite economic uncertainties. We expect the company to gradually reduce the cost of manufacturing products and improve the margin scenario, benefiting from the easing monetary policy. With an average price target of $117.63, analysts see a strong upside potential, reinforcing this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock’s attractiveness.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Free Stock Analysis Report Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX): Free Stock Analysis Report Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX): Free Stock Analysis Report Medtronic PLC (MDT): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks