Tao Levy Quotes (9 Quotes)

We expect the company to put its 14.5 billion of net cash to work in pursuing acquisitions to accelerate growth. That said, we would not be surprised to see the shares trade sideways until a significant acquisition is announced.

We are somewhat surprised to see Guidant's board support Johnson Johnson's offer. Recall that this is the same company that thought Guidant was only worth 63 a few weeks ago. Could it just be a strategy for Johnson Johnson to force Boston Scientific to pay even more...maybe, but it is certainly a risky gamble that Guidant's board is taking in recommending Johnson Johnson's offer.

The company continues to impress on its ability to protect the bottom line in the face of temporary slowdowns in one or more business segments.

The warning letter is a clear negative for Guidant and adds to its near-term challenges in its cardiac rhythm management franchise.

We would expect BSX to quickly come back with a new bid, but importantly, we do not expect management to increase its debt or offer more equity.

At a time when Boston Scientific management should be devoting 100 percent of its efforts to the Guidant transaction, it now also must address the warning letter.

It might give hospitals some more power to push back on prices.

There is increasing chatter that when the in-patient payment system comes out in a couple of weeks, that it will be more controversial than we've seen in prior years.

As the offer size for Guidant increases and the relative value of its ICD business increases, we can't ignore the fact that at some point it might make sense for one of the two contenders to take a serious look at St. Jude Medical.