What analysts are saying: Not enough growth at U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp gets downgrade

Credit Suisse analyst Moshe Orenbuch downgraded his rating on U.S. Bancorp last week from "outperform" to "neutral." Orenbuch likes the company and wrote, "USB continues to distinguish itself from peers with its diversified earnings stream, conservative operating philosophy and leading returns." But he sees the shares as reflecting its profitability and other companies with more upside share potential. He expects growth from the company but "not enough to justify an outperform rating."

According to Bloomberg, U.S. Bancorp now has 16 "buys," 21 "holds" and two "sell" recommendations.

New sleep apnea device shows promise

Star Tribune staff writer James Walsh profiled Inspire Medical Systems last week. The Maple Grove-based company is developing a pacemaker-like device that controls sleep apnea.

Approved for sale in Europe, recently released medical trial results may convince U.S. regulators to approve the device for the sleep apnea market here.

Suraj Kalia, an analyst with Northland Securities, told the Star Tribune, "I could see them easily growing to $200 million-plus in revenues very quickly."

Patrick Kennedy