ZOLL & Saints Medical Team Up - Analyst Blog

Resuscitation devices maker ZOLL Medical (ZOLL) has entered into a multi-faceted collaboration pact with Massachusetts-based community hospital Saints Medical Center. Under the agreement, Saints Medical's emergency medical services (“EMS”) team will collaborate with ZOLL Medical to test new product and technology concepts.

Saints Medical is a leading non-profit healthcare facility with 163 licensed beds, serving Greater-Lowell and the Merrimack Valley. The entity recently purchased ZOLL Medical's R Series defibrillators for improving survival-to-discharge outcomes. Moreover, Saints Medical deployed ZOLL Medical's technology for its EMS service, enabling more seamless delivery of patient care.

The partnership will focus on addressing the need for state-of-the-art cardiac resuscitation technology in the Greater Lowell area and surrounding communities. The collaboration will enable ZOLL Medical to cater advanced life saving technology to these regions.

ZOLL Medical is a leading player in the global market for external defibrillators, which is worth more than $1 billion. The company is the innovator of a wide range of product features that have become the standard of care in the external defibrillator industry. ZOLL Medical is expanding its presence in the international markets, which should significantly push growth.

Moreover, ZOLL Medical remains committed to broadening its product range to sustain growth in the U.S. defibrillation market. The company's U.S. military business is poised for a turnaround in fiscal 2011 driven by its Propaq MD defibrillator and the new Propaq M heart monitor.

We are pleased with ZOLL Medical's solid fundamentals, its broad product range, healthy revenue/margin mix and upbeat prospect for its LifeVest wearable defibrillatorbusiness. Moreover, its significant international presence should also drive growth.

However, ZOLL Medical operates in a highly competitive defibrillation market In the U.S. It competes with Physio-Control, a wholly-owned unit of Medtronic (MDT) and Philips (PHG). Moreover, the North American EMS market remains sluggish, in part, due to a still soft capital spending backdrop. Our long-term Neutral recommendation on ZOLL Medical is supported by a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold).

 
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