'In an uncertain world, opportunities abound' - Citi on European health cos
05/06/2025 13:12
** Citi is more constructive on the opportunities in European Healthcare Services and MedTech, seeing fewer near-term risks to consensus in an uncertain market ** The broker says Q1 earnings largely showed resilient end-markets as well as a stable cost/operating environment, with guidance ranges considering worst-case tariff scenarios ** The sector is also trading at/or below historical averages - brokerage ** Brokerage says it considers Alcon ALCC.S its top pick, and also prefers Diagnostyka DIAP.WA, EssilorLuxottica ESLX.PA, Oxford Nanopore Technologies ONT.L, Schott Pharma 1SXP.DE, and Siemens Healthineers SHLG.DE (all "buy"-rated) ** Separately, it prefers some companies such as Demant DEMANT.CO, Fresenius FREG.DE and Smith & Nephew SN.L, which have a disconnect between existing valuation and fundamental earnings ** Broker upgrades Demant to "buy" from "neutral" ** The brokerage keeps "sell" rating on Elekta EKTAb.ST citing structural share losses, and on Sonova SOON.S, Straumann STMN.S, where it still sees low-to-mid single-digit percentage downside to consensus
| COMPANY | NEW RATING | OLD RATING |
| Alcon | buy | buy |
| Amplifon AMPF.MI | neutral | neutral |
| Coloplast COLOb.CO | neutral | neutral |
| ConvaTec CTEC.L | neutral | neutral |
| Demant | buy (upgrade) | neutral |
| Diagnostyka | buy | buy |
| Elekta | sell | sell |
| EssilorLuxottica | buy | buy |
| Fresenius Medical Care FMEG.DE | neutral | neutral |
| Fresenius | buy | buy |
| GN Store Nord | buy | buy |
| Koninklijke Philips PHG.AS | neutral | neutral |
| Oxford Nanopore Technologies | buy | buy |
| Schott Pharma | buy | buy |
| Siemens Healthineers | buy | buy |
| Smith & Nephew | buy | buy |
| Sonova | sell | sell |
| Straumann | sell | sell |
| Synsam | buy | buy |