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几乎人人都在肥皂剧中看到过这种场景：外科医生费力地挥动双手，高声喊道：“清醒！”并对已经休克的病人进行电击治疗。这一幕我们已经屡见不鲜并市场怀疑其真实性。但是心脏电击对于治疗心律失常只是治标不治本，而目前有220万美国人就患有心律失常病症，一旦救治不及时就会有致命打击。而体内电击设备，即所谓的植入式心律转复除颤器（ICD）就是治疗心律失常的最新仪器。St. Jude Medical(代號:STJ)就是一家生产ICD的公司，作为一家医疗产品集团，公司产品包括心脏节律管理 (CRM)、心房震动仪（AF）等，而主打产品就是ICD，约占到公司07年销售额的35% 。
在过去几年中，St. Jude Medical收购了许多小型医疗生产商以扩大差评组合，目前公司的医疗技术与行业最大竞争者不相上下。ThinkPanmure分析师Stephan Ogilvie表示：“St. Jude Medical拥有最好的产品组合，并有能力在成熟市场中开拓业务、获得收益。”公司近期雇佣了450名新员工进行市场销售，效果显著。
近几年，医疗仪器行业的撤回事件屡屡发生，未来避免产品撤回风险，公司的ICD产品往往要通过医生和医院的反复使用才能在市场上销售。随着四大主打产品二季度大卖，公司二季度每股收益上涨了33%至0.60美元；营收上涨了20%至11.4亿美元。受到外汇市场有子昂，公司在海外市场的销售额上涨至 6400万美元。而影响公司海外销售额的两大主要货币就是欧元和日元。
公司CEO Daniel Starks表示：“海外市场的业绩极为出色，尤其在ICD销售方面，美国和国际市场的表现引人瞩目。”公司的诊断、治疗和查询心脏疾病仪器组合本季度销售额上涨了35%至1.35亿美元。公司预计08年底这个市场将超过15亿美元。“St. Jude在AF产品方面拥有领先地位，这在我们08年上半年32%的业绩增长率中有明显体现。”
公司表示将在今年年底发行下一代椎板脊髓刺激仪器，而公司的心脏仪器仍将保持强劲业绩，预测营收将达到7.12亿美元。公司的心血管产品业绩将上涨14% 至2.28亿美元。但是ICD仍然是公司的掌上明珠，创造着4.06亿美元的营收。美国市场占到ICD业绩增长的62% 。预计今年全球ICD市场将达到64亿美元，同比为57.8亿美元，09年将达到70亿美元。分析师表示：“我们预计全球植入式心脏仪器的业绩增长率将超过20%以上。”
但是，ICD的国内市场仍然有待被唤醒。公司在获得国内市场份额方面仍然有一段路要走。ICD专利权范围仍然较小，仅为25% 。分析师预计，市场在08、09年出现再增长之前，仍将经历一段低迷时期。“ICD专利范围狭窄与全球需求巨大形成鲜明对比，我们预期St. Jude将在以后几个季度中继续开拓这个潜力无限的大市场。”
Investor's Business Daily
Earnings A Shot In The Arm For Company That Keeps Hearts Beating
Thursday July 24, 6:06 pm ET
Brad Kelly Almost everyone has watched that dramatic scene on television, where the doctor, paddles in hand, yells out "Clear!" and shocks the patient back to life.
The scene may seem over-the-top and unrealistic, but defibrillation, or shock, can be the only way to stop potentially lethal heart arrhythmias before they kill.
Arrhythmias are disorders of the regular rhythmic beating of the heart and they're common with about 2.2 million Americans living with the condition, according to the American Heart Association.
Common forms of arrhythmias -- known as atrial fibrillation -- can be treated with blood thinners, but more severe cases, such as ventricular fibrillation, are fatal if not rapidly reversed by defibrillation.
Internal shocking devices, known as implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), could provide the best defense against sudden cardiac arrest. St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ - News) is one of the world's top ICD manufacturers.
The St. Paul, Minn.-based medical device maker operates four business segments: cardiac rhythm management (CRM), atrial fibrillation (AF), cardiovascular and neuromodulation.
Key Products
The company's key products include pacemakers, EP catheters, vascular closure devices, surgical heart valves and, of course, ICDs, which accounted for about 35% of the company's sales in 2007.
Over the past several years, St. Jude acquired smaller players to bolster its product portfolio, and now its technologies are on par with one of its larger competitors, medical behemoth Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - News), says Stephan Ogilvie, an analyst at ThinkPanmure.
"St. Jude has the best product portfolio and its ability to execute in very mature markets is now paying off," Ogilvie said.
The company aggressively hired 450 new personnel to its international sales force, which also will start bearing fruit, he added.
The medical device industry has been plagued by major recalls in recent years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled more than 20 devices last year alone because they could cause serious health problems.
To reduce risks tied to device recalls, physicians and hospitals use all three primary ICD providers, St. Jude, Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX - News) and Medtronic (NYSE:MDT - News), in their product rotation, William Blair & Co. analyst Benjamin Andrew says.
The ailing sector got a much-needed shot in the arm after St. Jude reported strong second-quarter results.
The company's earnings jumped 33% to 60 cents a share ex items, topping views by a nickel. Revenue rose 20% to $1.14 billion during the quarter as sales grew in all four product categories.
The medical device maker said overall sales got a $64 million boost from favorable foreign currency exchanges. The two main currencies influencing its operations are the euro and the yen.
"These are outstanding results across the board ... especially strong ICD sales both in the U.S. and internationally," St. Jude CEO Daniel Starks said in a post-earnings conference call.
Sales of atrial fibrillation products, which diagnose, treat and seek a cure for the most common cardiac arrhythmia, rose 35% to $135 million.
The company estimates the market for devices used in electrophysiology procedures will be more than $1.5 billion by the end of 2008 and that it will grow at a mid- to upper-teens rate.
"This implies that over the next five to seven years the market for AF-related products will be as large as for those for the pacemaker market," Starks said. "St. Jude has the leading program in AF, reflected by our 32% growth in the first half of 2008."
The neuromodulation products, such as spinal cord stimulation, were up 17% to $61 million.
St. Jude confirmed that by the end of this year it will launch its next generation lamina spinal cord stimulator, the smallest device of its kind on the market.
The company continues to see strong sales of its cardiac devices, underscored by CRM revenue of $712 million, up 20% from a year ago.
Also, its cardiovascular segment, which includes mechanical heart valves, grew 14% to $228 million.
Sales of pacemakers rose 14% to $306 million.
But ICDs remain St. Jude's top-selling products. The device generated $406 million in revenue, up 24%. The U.S. market accounted for 62% of that growth.
The global ICD market is expected to reach $6.4 billion this year, up from $5.78 billion in 2007, and almost $7 billion in 2009, according to William Blair & Co.
ICDs are considered effective in fighting cardiac arrest more than 90% of the time, an astounding success for a condition that few survived as recently as 15 years ago.
The life-saving feature of ICDs has allowed St. Jude to ride the wave of market growth, Andrew says.
"We believe the global implantable defibrillator market is growing in the mid- to high-single digits and that St. Jude took two or three points of market share in the first half," he said.
However, there is still a wait for a rebound in the domestic ICD market, Andrew says, and St. Jude faces additional pressure to rapidly take share in order to meet its growth expectations.
The pool of patients with an ICD remains lightly penetrated, about 25%, in the U.S., Andrew says.
The market will remain sluggish for several quarters before modestly reaccelerating late in 2008 and into 2009, he added.
"Light penetration rates and the growing acceptance of ICDs' life-saving capability have allowed this segment of the worldwide market to grow at rates higher than 20%," Andrew said. "We expect St. Jude will continue to generate strong growth in this market in the coming quarters."
Japanese Approval
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare just approved St. Jude's cardiac rhythm technology with defibrillator back-up devices, helping to buoy its product portfolio.
There exists significant room to increase penetration rates in several countries, Andrew says.
A strong geographic footprint has helped many U.S.-based companies weather the storm of the current economic downturn. But Ogilvie says the health care industry is counter-cyclical.
"St. Jude's products are not used in elective procedures. Most are essential to a patient's survival," he said. "People don't tend to skimp when it comes to their health even if we're in a recession."
St. Jude raised its full-year profit forecast to $2.28-$2.33 a share, up from a prior outlook of $2.15-$2.20. For the third quarter, it sees profit of 56 cents to 58 cents a share, above Wall Street's view of 53 cents.
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