Hello, Thanks for signing up for MarketBeat Daily Ratings—we’re excited to have you on board. Every weekday, you’ll get a curated summary of new “Buy” and “Sell” ratings from Wall Street’s top-rated analysts, the latest stock news, and bonus investing content—all delivered straight to your inbox. You’re just two quick steps away from completing your sign-up: 1. Make sure our emails go to your inbox Gmail users:
Mobile: Tap the three dots (…) in the top right and select Move to Inbox or Move to Primary
Desktop: Click the folder icon at the top and select Move to Inbox or Primary Apple Mail users:
Tap our email address at the top (next to From: on mobile), then select Add to VIP Other providers:
Reply to this message and add newsletters@analystratings.net to your contacts 2. Confirm your subscription Click this link to confirm your subscription. This verifies your account and ensures you receive your newsletters without interruption instead of getting stuck in your spam filter. Confirm your subscription here. After you confirm, feel free to download our popular free report, "7 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever" with this link. Thanks again for subscribing—we look forward to being part of your investing journey. 
Matthew Paulson
Founder and CEO, MarketBeat. P.S. If you didn’t mean to subscribe, no problem—you can unsubscribe here.
This Week's Featured News Medtronic's "Textbook" Reversal: How High Can It Really Go in 2026?Authored by Thomas Hughes. Date Posted: 2/17/2026. 
Key Points - Medtronic is amid a market reversal that can double-digits to its stock price while it pays a market-beating dividend yield.
- Analyst and institutional activity highlight the value and yield combination, which is attractive compared to the broader market.
- Catalysts include improving operational efficiency and margin health, new product launches, and traction in robotics.
- Special Report: [Sponsorship-Ad-6-Format3]
Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT) stock is in a textbook reversal, having formed a Head & Shoulders pattern and broken to fresh highs, with the baseline now confirmed as a key pivot. The question is how high the stock might go. The reversal is supported by an improving growth outlook, stronger profitability, heavier capital return, and better market sentiment — all providing a solid base for 2026. 
Institutions and Analysts Buy Into Medtronic's Growth Outlook Institutions — which represent the largest pool of investment capital — own more than 80% of MDT and have been accumulating shares for several quarters. MarketBeat data shows a bullish balance for five consecutive quarters, a roughly 2-to-1 bias in favor of buyers, and buying activity that ramped up at year-end 2025 and into early 2026, in step with the stock's price action. If that bullish bias continues, MDT's trajectory looks higher. Analysts, representing private capital and part of retail sentiment, rate MDT as a Moderate Buy. Coverage has grown alongside the improving outlook, and price-target revisions were trending bullish ahead of the fiscal Q3 (FQ3) release. (Medtronic's fiscal year is offset from the calendar year.) The analyst consensus implies roughly 10% upside, with the high end adding another ~10%. Revision trends line up with the stock's price action. While the FQ3 release and guidance update did not immediately spark a rally, results were consistent with expectations that were already driving the uptrend. Analyst sentiment is likely to remain supportive into the next quarter, which should underpin price action. Technical targets converge with the fundamental view. With the reversal confirmed, the base-case target equals the pattern's dollar range, while the bull case assumes a percentage-based extension. Those targets place MDT in the $118–$124 range, bracketing the high-end analyst target of $120. The main question is timing; the charts suggest this move could occur before midyear. Medtronic Affirms Long-Term Growth Targets: Outperforms in FQ3 Medtronic reported a solid quarter, with revenue of $9 billion slightly above consensus. The company recorded 6% organic growth with additional benefit from favorable foreign exchange. Cardio was the strongest segment — up nearly 14% overall and 10.6% organically — followed by 8.3% organic growth in Diabetes, 2.7% in Medical Surgical, and 2.5% in Neurosciences. Medtronic faced margin pressures, including tariffs, but those headwinds were largely in line with expectations. The company delivered an adjusted operating margin of 24.1% and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36, which topped estimates by about $0.15, suggesting management may remain cautious in guidance. Medtronic reaffirmed guidance, forecasting revenue growth near 5.5% and full-year adjusted EPS of $5.64 at the midpoint. That guidance is slightly below consensus — on the order of $0.01 at the midpoint — a small difference that may be easy to overlook. More important are the long-term targets and cash flow, which appear sufficient to sustain capital return programs. The capital return plan includes dividends and share repurchases: the dividend yielded roughly 2.8% as of mid‑February, and buybacks continue to reduce the share count annually. With a payout ratio around 50% and a history of raises, Medtronic is on course to join the Dividend King ranks this decade. Medtronic: Many Catalysts in 2026 Medtronic has several catalysts that could push the stock higher in 2026. Critical segments, including Cardiovascular, are accelerating, while new products and approvals — such as the Symplicity Spyral RDN system and the Hugo robotic systems — are adding momentum. Activist investors are also pressing for operational changes. Those forces could drive outperformance in fiscal Q4, full-year 2025, and 2026, with expanding margins and stronger capital returns. Elliott Investment Management, which became a major shareholder in 2025, is pushing for efficiency gains, faster growth, and a higher valuation. Trading at about 17x earnings, MDT looks inexpensive versus the S&P 500 and med‑tech peers. If the stock re-rates toward ~22x earnings, it could rise by roughly $5 to a price near $125.
| 
Post a Comment
Post a Comment