Is Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) the Best Medical Stock to Buy in 2024?

We recently published a list of the 10 Best of Breed Stocks to Buy For The Third Quarter of 2024 According to Bank of America. Since Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) ranks 5th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.

Analysts at BofA Securities recently published a list of “best of breed” stocks for the third quarter of 2024, which they believe are the top choices for investors on the back of their high quality, liquidity, earnings growth and margin upside when compared with peers. BofA’s “best of breed” basket of stocks has reportedly outperformed the MSCI All Country World Index (NASDAQ:ACWI) by 584 basis points, and returned a whopping 470% since its inception in April 2010.

Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett thinks these best of breed companies have strong balance sheets, cash flow and high EPS growth as well as competent management. Hartnett believes these companies generate the “best relative returns” in the long term and can protect investors against short-term volatility.

For this article we scanned BofA’s best of breed basket of stocks and picked 10 companies with the highest number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 47

Medical technology company Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) is one of the best of breed stocks to buy for the third quarter according to Bank of America. Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW)  is one of the leaders in the transcatheter heart valve replacement. During the first quarter, its transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) revenue rose 6%, while transcatheter mitral and tricuspid therapies (TMTT) sales jumped a whopping 75%.

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs added the stock to its Conviction list, saying Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) is a pioneer in the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Goldman expects Edward Life Sciences Inc (NYSE:EW) to be successful in its product cycle transition.

Carillon Scout Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) was the third-largest contributor. Edwards designs, manufactures and markets products such as heart valves to treat cardiovascular disease. The stock performed well after a competitor delayed, and potentially cancelled, its entry into the aortic heart valve replacement market. Edwards also received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its tricuspid valve replacement product much sooner than expected. We continue to find the company’s market position and growth opportunities attractive.”

Overall, Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) ranks 5th on Insider Monkey’s list titled 10 Best of Breed Stocks to Buy For The Third Quarter of 2024 According to Bank of America. While we acknowledge the potential of Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.