Has BSX Stock Finally Hit Bottom?

Boston Scientific (BSX) stock has fallen about 57% over the past year, to about $45. The shares now sell for 3.2 times trailing sales, hovering near their decade-long historical trough of roughly 3.0 times and well off their 8.6 high.

At these levels, the valuation multiple reflects historically depressed sentiment, though any further reduction in top-line guidance would lower the absolute dollar floor. That multiple is the reason to look again: the businesses outside its two stalled franchises still grow, and its operating margin has widened for three straight years.

Why Did Boston Scientific Lose More Than Half Its Value?

The two franchises that grew fastest in 2024 and 2025 have stalled. WATCHMAN, its stroke-prevention implant for patients who cannot or will not take blood thinners, hit a U.S. market that management says slowed sharply after new clinical evidence changed referral patterns. In July, management expected global WATCHMAN sales to fall mid- to high-single digits in the second half of 2026, with no improvement assumed for 2027.

Electrophysiology is the second problem. The company lost U.S. share to competitors faster than it planned. PFA, the ablation approach its FARAPULSE system leads, already makes up about 80% of the U.S. AFib market by management’s estimate, so the switch to PFA that drove its growth can no longer mask lost share. These two franchises are the reason for the latest guidance cut, the second since April: 2026 organic growth of 5% to 6%, with limited adjusted EPS growth expected in 2027.

Is The Rest Of Boston Scientific Still Growing?

Yes, and the multiple appears to overlook it. The other businesses, roughly 75% of revenue, were expected by management in July to grow about 6% in the second half of 2026. Interventional Cardiology grew 15% in the second quarter of 2026, led by coronary therapies, imaging and its AGENT drug-coated balloon.

The operating margin has widened three years running: 16.6% three years ago, then 17.8%, then 18.3%, and 21.0% over the last twelve months. A cheap multiple on a business losing profitability is a trap. This multiple fell while the business got more profitable.

Management itself said in July that improving operating margins will be a challenge in 2027, with gross margin pressure from softer WATCHMAN and electrophysiology sales and the first effects of its pending acquisition of Penumbra. Its answer is a restructuring program targeting about $500 million of run-rate savings by the end of 2029, over half of it, and over half of the program’s cost, by the end of 2027, plus seven launches by 2028, one of them a mapping and ablation catheter for electrophysiology, into markets it sizes at more than $25 billion.

What Are You Actually Paying For At This Multiple?

At 3.2 times sales, the valuation reflects heavily discounted expectations for the stalled franchises, potentially limiting valuation downside if the broader portfolio remains intact. That is the margin of safety. If historical valuation support near 3.0 times sales holds, multiple compression from here would be relatively limited compared to the steep contraction already absorbed—provided revenue estimates do not face further cuts. If the feared outcome merely stops worsening, a multiple recovering part of its ten-year range can lift the shares without any WATCHMAN rebound, which management was not counting on in 2027 as of July.

Whether this pullback is worth the patience comes down to whether the base business holds near 6%. The third quarter of 2026 will not settle it: a cyberattack is expected to disrupt operations, though analysts and management anticipate part of the unfulfilled order volume will be deferred rather than permanently lost. Compare the pullback with other stocks that have sold off hard before you decide.

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