Koninklijke Philips


PHG

recently announced several new innovative additions to its existing healthcare solutions portfolio. The new additions include ultra-low contrast percutaneous coronary intervention (ULC-PCI), Dynamic Coronary Roadmap Software, EchoNavigator 2.0, iFR Co-registration and IVUS Co-registration.

Among these introductions, the most exciting solutions are the ULC-PCI and EchoNavigator 2.0. While ULC-PCI will help interventionists perform percutaneous coronary intervention with greater confidence and clarity and at a much more reduced cost, EchoNavigator 4.0 will aid in complex heart disease treatment such as heart valve repair or therapy.

Philips’ ULC-PCI solutions integrate with its image-guided therapy system Azurion and co-registers instantaneous blood flow measurements and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images onto real-time fluoroscopy to help diagnose and confirm the success of PCI, limiting the use of too much-iodinated contrast media and reducing healthcare costs.

Exposure to contrast media during PCI procedures increases the risk of suffering contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), especially among patients suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). CIN is a hospital-acquired life-threatening kidney injury, which results in an average increase in length of hospital stay of 3.6 days and an additional healthcare cost of $9,448 per patient.

Philips’ EchoNavigator provides advanced image-guided therapy solutions for the treatment of structural heart disease. Structural heart diseases such as mitral regurgitation are a common phenomenon among people above the age of 75 years. Worldwide more than 156 million people suffer from this disease and have to go through complex open-heart surgery. However, with the help of EchoNavigator, treatment of such diseases can be performed using image-guided minimally invasive catheter-based procedures that cause far less trauma, thus making the new product a very attractive solution among doctors.

Supply Chain Issues Impact Near-Term Profitability

Philips witnessed solid demand for patient monitors, hospital ventilators, computed tomography and portable ultrasound systems amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The company has been benefiting from strong demand for Image-Guided Therapy, Diagnostic Imaging, Ultrasound and Hospital Patient Monitoring system.

However, rising supply chain issues due to the pandemic had negatively impacted the company’s top line in the first quarter of 2022. The supply chain management issues are still prevalent globally and pose a significant threat to the company’s near-term profitability.

As a result of the pandemic, growth prospects are sluggish in the healthcare market worldwide. Rising raw material prices are hampering Philips’ ability to maintain competitiveness in the markets it operates.

Philips Respironics voluntarily recalled ventilators, bi-level positive airway pressure and positive airway pressure machines due to potential health hazards. This impacted sales negatively in the first quarter of 2022.

Comparable sales decreased 4% on a year-over-year basis to €3.92 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

The company’s earnings had declined by 46.4% to 15 cents in the first quarter. The slowdown in the economy has hurt the medical sector.

Philips currently carries a Zacks Rank # 3 (Hold). The company’s shares have fallen 29.5% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks

Medical-Products

industry and the

Medical

sector’s decline of 11% and 80.4%, respectively.

Stocks to Consider

While Philips is reeling from the effects of an economic slowdown and global supply chain issues, here are some better-ranked stocks worth considering in the broader Medical sector.

AMN Healthcare Services


AMN

sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

AMN shares have fallen 26.9% in the year-to-date period, compared with the Zacks

Medical Services

industry’s decline of 35.1%.

Aclaris Therapeutics


ACRS

carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Aclaris shares have fallen 24.1% in the year-to-date period, compared with the Zacks

Medical – Drugs

industry’s decline of 26.1%.

Abeona Therapeutics


ABEO

carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Abeona shares have plunged 46.6% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks

Medical – Biomedical and Genetics

industry’s decline of 25%.

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