Should You Pick Boston Scientific Stock Over Its Competitors?
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Boston Scientific (BSX) stock lost 56.8% in the year to November 3, 2026, marking the worst return in a peer group of six health care companies that includes Medtronic and Stryker. The stock now trades at the lowest price to earnings in that group. Yet over its latest four quarters, Boston Scientific ranks third of six for both revenue growth and operating margin. How much less are you paying for Boston Scientific than for a rival with about the same record over the past four quarters?
You Pay About Half Stryker’s Multiple For Boston Scientific
Buyers pay 18.0 times earnings for Boston Scientific stock, against 32.8 times for Stryker. That works out to a little over half the price for each dollar of profit. Both companies report on the same four fiscal quarters, ended September 30, 2026. Over that period, Boston Scientific grew revenue 8.9%, setting a faster pace than Stryker’s 7.9%. Stryker posted an operating margin of 21.8%, only a little wider than Boston Scientific’s 20.6%.
| BSX | MDT | ABT | JNJ | SYK | BDX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Fiscal Quarters | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-07-31 (Q2 FY2026 to Q1 FY2027) | ended 2026-06-30 (Q3 FY2025 to Q2 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-27 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-06-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) |
| Market Value (USD billion) | 63 | 127 | 190 | 641 | 119 | 54.5 |
| P/E | 18 | 24.2 | 35.1 | 39.8 | 32.8 | 57.9 (not in the P/E rank) |
| Revenue Growth | 8.9% | 9.8% | 8.1% | 7.8% | 7.9% | 17.4% |
| Operating Margin | 20.6% | 19% | 15.8% | 25.7% | 21.8% | 14.4% |
| Total Return, Incl. Dividends, 2025-10-31 to 2026-11-03 | -56.8% | 12.6% | -9.3% | 44.1% | -11.9% | 44.6% |
Two peers grew faster than Boston Scientific. Medtronic trades at a higher multiple of 24.2 times earnings on 9.8% growth. Becton Dickinson grew 17.4%, but a financial loss in one of its latest four quarters leaves it out of the price-to-earnings ranking. Medtronic’s operating margin, though, sat at 19.0%, below Boston Scientific’s.
Boston Scientific’s Sales Growth Has Slowed For Four Quarters
Beneath that four-quarter figure, Boston Scientific’s growth slowed in every quarter. Revenue grew 15.9% from a year earlier in fiscal Q4 2025 and 11.6% in fiscal Q1 2026. Growth then dropped to 7.5% in fiscal Q2 and 1.4% in fiscal Q3 2026. Management estimates that third-quarter growth was about 3 percentage points lower because of a cyber incident. The incident left the company unable to make or ship products for eight business days.
Management says the pressure on sales comes mainly from two businesses, EP and WATCHMAN. EP sales fell 5% in the third quarter. Management says the company’s strong market share in EP has eroded as rivals introduced new technologies. WATCHMAN sales fell 7% in the U.S. The rest of the company makes up about 75% of the business and is growing consistently, management says, with its interventional cardiology business growing 19%.
Yet management expects that growth will not be enough to offset the pressure from EP and WATCHMAN in 2027. That may be the worry behind Boston Scientific’s low multiple.
Management Expects Sales To Fall In Fiscal Q4 2026
Boston Scientific expects fourth-quarter revenue to fall 1% to 3% from a year earlier. Management says this decline includes customers working through stock they built up after the cyber incident. Management cut its full-year 2026 revenue growth guide to 4.3%, down from 6.0% in its July release.
Management does not expect a quick turn in 2027. On its October 28, 2026 call, management said the company will be challenged to grow sales and adjusted earnings per share in 2027, excluding its pending acquisition of Penumbra. Management calls 2027 the trough and expects to return to high performance in 2028. But some of its big product platforms have slipped by about six months, and management expects EP to keep losing share until a new product launches in early 2028.
The stock price appears to assume that EP and WATCHMAN will keep holding back a company whose other businesses still grow. So far, management’s own outlook for 2027 is closer to that worry than to a quick recovery. To earn a multiple nearer its rivals’, Boston Scientific may need those two businesses growing again. Management expects EP performance to meaningfully improve in 2028. Sales in EP and WATCHMAN are the figures to watch in the fourth-quarter report expected in February 2027.
Does This Mean You Should Act On BSX?
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