Edwards Lifesciences downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Bernstein

Bernstein analyst Lee Hambright downgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to Underperform from Outperform with a price target of $66, down from $95. The firm acknowledges that Edwards is a high-quality company and a leading medtech innovator, and investors have come to expect mid-teens revenue growth. However, organic growth slowed to 5.5% over the past two quarters, and the stock still trades at 30-31-times, Bernstein adds. The firm believes U.S. TAVR market growth could remain sluggish for a while, and worse, it thinks Medtronic (MDT) will take share from Edwards. Altogether, Bernstein forecasts less than 7% organic growth for Edwards in 2023, and sees no big TAVR or TMTT catalysts that can save the stock in the near-term. Guidance for 2023 seems optimistic, and the CEO transition adds a bit of uncertainty, the firm adds.