UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Initiates Align Technology at Neutral; Near-Term Visibility Lacking

Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on Align Technology

with a Neutral rating and a $28 price target. Goldman Sachs noted, "Our proprietary survey of 100 US GPs/Orthodontists supports our long-term view that Align is well positioned to leverage its dominant market share in a significantly underpenetrated space, where we model a 2012-2015 case CAGR of 15%. That said, Align's 3Q miss (first sales miss in five years) and negative 4Q preannouncement, which came with management departures, have introduced near-term uncertainty. From here, we would need to see a reacceleration in growth before we become more positive." Align Technology closed at $26.20 on Monday.