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Portage, Michigan-based Stryker Corporation (SYK) offers innovative products and services in MedSurg, Neurotechnology, Orthopaedics, and Spine that help improve patient and healthcare outcomes. With a market cap of $149 billion, Stryker operates as one of the world’s leading medical technology companies.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," Stryker fits this bill perfectly. Given the company impacts over 150 million patients annually, its valuation above this mark is not surprising. The company’s operations span nearly 75 countries in the Americas, Indo-Pacific, and EMEA and employs over 52,000 people.
SYK recently touched its all-time high of $398.20 on Nov. 18 and is trading 2.1% below that peak. In the past three months alone, the stock has surged 8.2%, outpacing the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF’s (IHI) 4% gains during the same time frame.
Over the longer-term basis, Stryker’s performance looks even more impressive as the stock has soared 30.2% on a YTD basis and 34% over the past 52 weeks, outperforming IHI’s 13% gains in 2024 and 20.1% returns over the past year.
To confirm the bullish trend, SYK has consistently traded above its 200-day moving average and mostly above its 50-day moving average with some fluctuations since mid-August.
Stryker’s stock prices rose 1.2% in the trading session after the release of its impressive Q3 results on Oct. 29. Driven by the mix of growth in volumes and higher pricing, the company’s net sales surged 11.9% year-over-year to $5.5 billion, which surpassed Wall Street’s expectations by a notable 2.3%. Meanwhile, due to disciplined expense management, Stryker observed an even more impressive growth in profitability. The company reported a robust adjusted operating margin of 24.7% and a 17.3% year-over-year growth in adjusted net earnings to $1.1 billion.
Moreover, observing the year-to-date performance, strong demand for its capital products, and healthy procedural volumes, the company raised the lower end of its earnings and organic sales guidance, bolstering investor confidence.
Despite the strong performance, Stryker has lagged behind its competitor Boston Scientific Corporation’s (BSX) 57.1% gains in 2024 and 65.9% returns over the past year.
Nevertheless, among the 28 analysts covering the stock, SYK has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating. The mean price target of $404.46 represents a 3.8% premium to current price levels.
