Key insights
- Boston Scientific stock is down significantly due to a mixed third-quarter earnings report, including an earnings miss and a revenue beat. However, the primary driver of the decline is a substantial cut to forward guidance for both Q4 and full-year 2026 adjusted EPS. The company cited a cyberattack's ongoing disruption to manufacturing and shipments, alongside competitive pressures and a sharp contraction in operating margin, as reasons for the lowered outlook.
Investing.com -- Boston Scientific stock is plunging 11.9% in pre-open trading after the cardiac and medical device maker released its third-quarter 2026 results before the bell, pairing a modest revenue beat with an earnings miss and a forward guidance cut that sent shares toward their 52-week low.
The company posted adjusted EPS of $0.73, falling short of the $0.75 analyst consensus, while net sales of $5.14 billion grew 1.5% year over year and narrowly topped estimates — a mixed scorecard that, on its own, might have been absorbed, but was overshadowed by what management said about the quarters ahead.
The more damaging element was the outlook reset. Management guided Q4 2026 adjusted EPS to $0.77–$0.79, well below the $0.83 consensus, and trimmed full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $3.16–$3.18 — a meaningful step down from the prior $3.28–$3.32 range — while also projecting Q4 net sales to decline year over year. The company attributed the deterioration to the lingering impact of an August 25 cyberattack that disrupted manufacturing, order processing, and global shipments, and which had already forced the company to withdraw its original 2026 forecasts in September. Compounding the picture, adjusted operating margin contracted sharply to 16.1% in Q3, down from 20.7% in the same period a year earlier.
Beyond the cyberattack fallout, longer-running competitive pressures have weighed on sentiment. Medtronic’s Sphere-9 catheter has been gaining share in the U.S. electrophysiology market, squeezing Boston Scientific’s FARAPULSE franchise, while demand for its WATCHMAN device has remained soft. The broader market provided no offsetting tailwind, with the S&P 500 barely positive and the Dow Jones essentially flat on the day.
Together, the earnings miss, the steep guidance reduction, the cyberattack’s unresolved operational drag, and the absence of any macro support combined to push Boston Scientific shares toward their 52-week low, reflecting deep investor concern about the company’s near-term earnings trajectory and its ability to recover lost revenue from the disruption.
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