Research Update: Boston Scientific Corp. Rating Raised To 'A-'; Outlook Stable On Continued Strong Performance

Boston Scientific Corp. continues to outperform our expectations, generating solid organic growth and strong free cash flows. We project the company will generate 11-13% growth over the next two years, with EBITDA margins of 27%-28%. We expect the company will remain acquisitive, supplementing its growth with moderate-size tuck-in acquisitions, but maintain conservative financial policies, with S&P Global Ratings-adjusted net leverage of under 2.5x. As such, we raised our issuer credit rating on Boston Scientific and our issue-level rating on its senior unsecured debt to 'A-' from 'BBB+?. Our 'A-2' short-term rating is unchanged. Our stable outlook reflects the company's continued solid growth prospects, management's consistent operating track record, and relatively conservative financial policies, which will enable it to maintain S&P

...Rating Component Scores Component Foreign currency issuer credit rating A-/STABLE/A-2 Local currency issuer credit rating A-/STABLE/A-2 Business risk 2 - Strong Country risk 2 - Low Risk Industry risk 2 - Low Risk Competitive position 2 - Strong Financial risk 3 - Intermediate Cash flow/leverage 3 - Intermediate Anchor ###+ Diversification/portfolio effect 3 - Neutral/Undiversified Capital structure Neutral Financial policy Neutral Liquidity Strong Management and governance Neutral Comparable rating analysis Positive Stand-alone credit profile a-...

Research Update