Medtronic (MDT 0.14%) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW -0.91%) have taken drastically different paths over the recent past. While Medtronic's thrived behind its diversity and strong sales growth in up-and-coming medical device technologies, Edwards' stock has floundered by more than 10% over the past year behind lower-than-expected sales growth from its flagship Sapien heart valve. While Edwards has long held sole U.S. approval in the transcatheter aortic heart valve market with the Sapien, Medtronic broke through to break that dominance down recently with the Food and Drug Administration's approval of its CoreValve device in January.
That's scary news for Edwards and its investors, who now have to face off with growing competition on the homefront as well as overseas in Europe, where Medtronic and other heart valve makers have infringed on Edwards' territory. But can Edwards rebound to entrench its dominance in this growing market? A pair of clinical studies recently offers promise for the heart valve market for medical device makers -- and for Edwards, in particular.
What's in store for this underperforming med tech stock? Find out in the video below as Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll takes you through Edwards Lifesciences' latest hope in its struggle against Medtronic and other rivals in the heart valve market, and shows you which stock is poised to make the most of this growing niche.
