Medtronic settles suit
Medtronic announced a patent lawsuit settlement last week with Edwards Lifesciences over CoreValve, an artificial aortic heart valve used in patients too sick for traditional open heart surgery. Medtronic will pay Edwards Lifesciences $750 million upfront and annual payments through 2022. The settlement had some impact on Medtronic's fourth quarter numbers last week but revenue and earnings per share largely met analysts forecasts. Sean Lavin an analyst with BTIG LLC wrote: "For MDT this eliminates any chance of an injunction or massive judgment and is probably a positive."
Apogee gets upgrade
Apogee Enterprises Inc. got an upgrade from "neutral" to "buy" by D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Brent Thielman.
"Apogee has made significant progress in improving profitability within a modest growth environment," Thielman wrote last week in a research note.
The developer of glass products, services and systems now has three "buy" recommendations to go with three "holds."
Target avoids disastrous quarter
Target Corp. reported first-quarter results on Wednesday. Losses in Canada and continued use of deep promotions to lure customers back after the company's data breach last year took a toll on profits and margins.
Target also lowered its guidance for the remainder of the year due to the price promotions. But it could have been worse, according to David Strasser, an analyst with Janney Capital Markets.
"This was by no means a good quarter. But it was not the disaster that was feared," Strasser wrote in a research note last week.
Patrick Kennedy
