Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) has announced the launch of a new implant called Nucleus Profile Plus Series. Let’s take a quick look at what this means for investors.
About Cochlear
Cochlear is one of the world’s leading medical businesses. Cochlear designs, manufactures and supplies the Nucleus cochlear implant, the Hybrid electro-acoustic implant and the Baha bone conduction implant.
Graeme Clark invented the first device in 1982, allowing first-user Graham Carrick to hear for the first time for 17 years. Some of the most recent modifications allow users to play sound from their phone directly into their implant.
New Implant
The implant that Cochlear announced this morning is called the Nucleus Profile Plus Series. Essentially, this new implant is, “designed for routine 1.5 and 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scans without the need to remove the internal magnet”.
In plain English, this means that someone fitted with the implant can undergo a scan such as an MRI without the need to remove the internal magnet. Previous implants had a removable magnet, but the new implant is designed to make life even easier for the user.
Will This Help The Share Price?
In short, probably not much.
The new implant features an upgrade over the old one, but this doesn’t seem to be a significant announcement. What the announcement does reinforce, however, is Cochlear’s commitment to innovation and research and development.
Recent Performance, Analyst Ratings
The Cochlear share price has taken a dive over the last three months, down almost 10%. It was only in February that the share price was closing in on $200 per share and now it sits at $167.59. Fellow ASX-listed healthcare shares like ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD) and Sonic Healthcare (ASX: SHL) have also experienced some weakness recently.
Current analyst ratings for Cochlear shares show that sell ratings outweigh the buy ratings six-to-one.
Despite the analyst sentiment, I think the Cochlear share price could be slightly undervalued at the moment. Their 2019 half-year report released two months ago showed a 10% increase in EBIT and a 16% increase in NPAT. They continue to grow the business and provide innovative new products and have a very strong competitive advantage.
While I don’t currently own shares, I’ll be watching Cochlear very closely over the next few months. If you’re looking for other companies with a competitive advantage and strong growth, check out the three companies in the free report below.
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Disclaimer: At the time of writing, Max does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.
