BioTuesdays

Canaccord ups Acutus Medical to buy from hold; PT to $18 from $11

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Canaccord Capital upgraded Acutus Medical (NASDAQ:AFIB) to “buy” from “hold” and raised its price target to $18 from $11, citing the company’s pre-announcement of second quarter results, which “illustrate early signs of commercial traction.” The stock closed at $15.05 on July 14.

Analyst William Plovanic also cited the completion of a recent $77-million capital raise removing any near-term financing overhand, the reset of results last quarter setting reasonable expectations, and the “valuation seems favorable given both comparable group valuations and recent M&A.”

Acutus is focused on improving the way cardiac arrhythmias are diagnosed and treated, with a commitment to advancing the field of electrophysiology with an array of products and technologies to enable more physicians to treat more patients more efficiently and effectively. 

Mr. Plovanic said management noted that estimated revenue growth for the second quarter was driven by record sales in direct markets in the U.S. and Europe, as well as disposable sales. 

“While we believe it is difficult to value each component of the Acutus product set, we do believe the company’s highly differentiated mapping technology, broad set of disposables for access, and near- and long- term pipeline of ablation products, including both radiofrequency and pulsed-field ablation, have more value than being ascribed by investors today.”