Piper Jaffray Has Positive Outlook on St. Jude Medical Ahead of 3Q14 Earnings

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Brooks E. West reiterated an Overweight rating and $79.00 price target on

. In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, “STJ shares have been pressured by FX (STJ does not hedge) and investor concerns over a 2H14 revenue ramp needed to hit the midpoint of FY14 revenue guidance of 3-5% cc. Investors are also awaiting word on STJ's paused TAVR program with expectations of an update on the Q3 call. Going into the earnings call this Wednesday morning we are modestly adjusting our Q3 and Q4 estimates to reflect recent management commentary around quarterly cadence and FX headwinds. At a recent investor conference, management spoke to ~4% y/y cc growth in Q3 followed by 5-7% y/y cc growth in Q4 (on an extra selling week). This leads to FY14 sales of ~3.8%, which is within the previously guided 3-5% range. The ~4% y/y Q3 growth rate ($1,391.5M) would bring sales to the upper end of previous guidance ($1,315M-$1,395M). We believe, however, that sales will be slightly impacted by FX headwinds.” St. Jude Medical closed on Friday at $60.79.