Stryker Hits Record High As Equities Rally Continues

Stryker (SYK:US) stock edged further higher on Friday to print a fresh record high following around a 24% rally year-to-date.

The new all-time high comes after the surgical equipment maker raised its full-year outlook in May. After reporting its Q1 results, Stryker said that it now expects full-year profit to come in between $10.05 - $10.25, up from the prior range of $9.85 to $10.15. In contrast, analysts were expecting a full-year profit of $10.01. 

"We delivered strong organic sales growth in the first quarter of 2023," said Kevin A. Lobo, Chair and CEO. "Demand remains strong for our products and supply chain pressures are gradually improving."

Organic revenue is expected to grow 8% to 9% for the full year. Stryker reported adjusted profit per share of $2.14 on revenue of $4.78 billion for its first quarter, topping the analyst consensus for $2.00 on revenue of $4.55 billion.

Shares in the company’s largest business - MedSurg and Neurotechnology - came in at $2.7 billion, beating the expected $2.61 billion. Orthopaedics & spine net sales of $2.1 billion also outperformed analyst expectations, coming in higher by about $150 million. 

Moreover, the company’s adjusted gross profit margin was 63.2%, ahead of the expected 62.7%, while the adjusted operating margin was reported at 21.1%.

The fresh all-time high print comes just a few days after Congressman Ro Khanna disclosed that he was buying SYK shares in May, when the price action was trading about 7% to 8% lower compared to current levels.