Robin Young’s Entirely Subjective Ordering of Public Orthopedic Companies
This Week: Investors smell a slowdown. Jobless claims spiked last week. Unemployment: 3-year high. BLS admits a million “phantom” jobs never existed. Bond markets rallying as cash moves from stocks to risk-free, interest bearing Tbills. 2-year bill just hit a low not seen since 2022. Fed almost certainly cutting rates this week. Powell is on the lower interest rate bandwagon. Will we avoid a recession this fall or winter? Stay tuned, of course. Implications for ortho: hits on the demand side. Lower employment, lower health insurance coverage.| Rank | Last Week | Company | TTM Op Margin | 30-Day Change | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Smith & Nephew | 11.30% | 2.72% | SNN released a new study for rotator cuff repair last week: SNN’s Regeneten, cut retear rates by 2/3rds. From 35% to 12%. Two-year study. Truly significant. |
| 2 | 4 | Pacira BioSciences | 4.63 | 8.31 | 2nd best performer in our ortho and spine universe. Despite being worth 103% more today than 1 year ago, PCRX STILL the lowest priced (P/E, PSR, PEG) ortho stock. |
| 3 | 5 | Enovis | 2.41 | 7.20 | For the quarter ending this month (September), ENOV’s portfolio of global ortho suppliers is expected to report an 11% sales growth, 2x industry average. |
| 4 | 6 | Zimmer Biomet | 15.31 | (0.14) | ZBH got a teeny bit cheaper. 6th lowest valuation vs 21st lowest for SYK. And yet…ZBH expected to grow sales 10% in Q3 vs 9% for SYK. |
| 5 | 3 | Globus Medical | 17.33 | (6.45) | Time to go private. The market doesn’t care that GMED sales rose 18% in Q2. While also posting the #1 profit margin. Ton of cash in the bank. Wall Street doesn’t "get" GMED. |
| 6 | 7 | Orthofix | (8.25) | 5.74 | As we near the end of Q3, time to look at Wall Street’s predictions: for OFIX, 1-2% sales growth BUT a big jump in EPS, from $0.07 in last year’s Q3 to $0.12 this year. |
| 7 | 8 | Axogen | (3.42) | 11.18 | Everyone is excited about AXGN’s bioactive new nerve graft—Avance® Nerve Graft. FDA approval (BLA) expected by end of 2025. AXGN #1 ortho stock over the past month. |
| 8 | 2 | Johnson & Johnson | 28.31 | 2.09 | Yes, down a fair amount on the Power Rankings this week, but that’s only because other equities had better growth or valuation arguments. |
| 9 | 10 | Integra Lifesciences | 7.86 | 6.66 | Writing off a half billion of assets in Q2 was gutsy. IART threw in the towel and cleared the remediation decks. Q3 should be refershingly dull by comparison. |
| 10 | 9 | ConMed | 10.62 | (4.15) | Kim Kelderman joins CNMD’s board. Stock down 29% YOY. Now trading at 16 P/E, 1.25 PSR (vs 4.25 ortho avg) and 2.42 PEG (about average). Overall, 6th cheapest ortho equity. |
Top Performers Last 30 Days
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
30-Day Chg |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SINTX Technologies | SINT | $4.35 | $12 | 41.23% |
| 2 | AxoGen | AXGN | $16.41 | $755 | 11.18% |
| 3 | Aclarion | ACON | $7.72 | $4 | 8.88% |
| 4 | Pacira BioSciences | PCRX | $27.12 | $1,219 | 8.31% |
| 5 | Carlsmed | CARL | $14.79 | $393 | 7.33% |
| 6 | Enovis | ENOV | $31.72 | $1,813 | 7.20% |
| 7 | Integra LifeSciences | IART | $15.06 | $1,173 | 6.66% |
| 8 | Orthofix | OFIX | $14.91 | $589 | 5.74% |
| 9 | Smith & Nephew | SNN | $37.78 | $16,414 | 2.72% |
| 10 | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | $178.06 | $428,829 | 2.09% |
Worst Performers Last 30 Days
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
30-Day Chg |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuros Biosciences | KURN:SW | $29.50 | $1,139 | -10.66% |
| 2 | Aurora Spine | ASG.V | $0.20 | $15 | -8.85% |
| 3 | Globus Medical | GMED | $58.74 | $7,933 | -6.45% |
| 4 | Anika Therapeutics | ANIK | $8.67 | $125 | -4.52% |
| 5 | ConMed | CNMD | $52.90 | $1,638 | -4.15% |
| 6 | Bioventus | BVS | $7.23 | $598 | -3.98% |
| 7 | Alphatec Holdings | ATEC | $15.26 | $2,258 | -3.42% |
| 8 | Xtant Medical Hldgs | XTNT | $0.63 | $82 | -2.83% |
| 9 | Dynatronics Corp | DYNT | $0.09 | $1 | -2.22% |
| 10 | OrthoPediatrics Corp | KIDS | $19.65 | $493 | -2.19% |
Lowest Price / Earnings Ratio (TTM)
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
P/E |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ConMed | CNMD | $52.90 | $1,638 | 15.94 |
| 2 | Zimmer Biomet | ZBH | $103.08 | $20,420 | 20.33 |
| 3 | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | $178.06 | $428,829 | 21.31 |
| 4 | Medtronic | MDT | $94.03 | $120,611 | 21.54 |
| 5 | Globus Medical | GMED | $58.74 | $7,933 | 28.23 |
Highest Price / Earnings Ratio (TTM)
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
P/E |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smith & Nephew | SNN | $37.78 | $16,414 | 39.84 |
| 2 | Medacta | MOVE | $189.05 | $3,781 | 36.50 |
| 3 | Stryker | SYK | $383.34 | $146,554 | 33.44 |
| 4 | Pacira BioSciences | PCRX | $27.12 | $1,219 | 30.90 |
| 5 | Globus Medical | GMED | $58.74 | $7,933 | 28.23 |
Lowest P/E to Growth Ratio (Earnings Estimates)
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
PEG |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medacta | MOVE | $189.05 | $3,781 | 1.31 |
| 2 | Smith & Nephew | SNN | $37.78 | $16,414 | 2.19 |
| 3 | ConMed | CNMD | $52.90 | $1,638 | 2.42 |
| 4 | Globus Medical | GMED | $58.74 | $7,933 | 2.48 |
| 5 | Pacira BioSciences | PCRX | $27.12 | $1,219 | 2.86 |
Highest P/E to Growth Ratio (Earnings Estimates)
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
PEG |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stryker | SYK | $383.34 | $146,554 | 3.25 |
| 2 | Medtronic | MDT | $94.03 | $120,611 | 3.17 |
| 3 | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | $178.06 | $428,829 | 2.96 |
| 4 | Pacira BioSciences | PCRX | $27.12 | $1,219 | 2.86 |
| 5 | Globus Medical | GMED | $58.74 | $7,933 | 2.48 |
Lowest Price to Sales Ratio (TTM)
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
PSR |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dynatronics Corp | DYNT | $0.09 | $1 | 0.03 |
| 2 | Aurora Spine | ASG.V | $0.20 | $15 | 0.64 |
| 3 | Xtant Medical Hldgs | XTNT | $0.63 | $82 | 0.70 |
| 4 | Integra LifeSciences | IART | $15.06 | $1,173 | 0.73 |
| 5 | Orthofix | OFIX | $14.91 | $589 | 0.74 |
Highest Price to Sales Ratio (TTM)
| Company | Symbol |
Price |
Mkt Cap |
PSR |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aclarion | ACON | $7.72 | $4 | 98.33 |
| 2 | Carlsmed | CARL | $14.79 | $393 | 14.47 |
| 3 | Kuros Biosciences | KURN:SW | $29.50 | $1,139 | 13.27 |
| 4 | Stryker | SYK | $383.34 | $146,554 | 6.49 |
| 5 | Medacta | MOVE | $189.05 | $3,781 | 6.40 |
