Tandem Diabetes Care (Nasdaq:TNDM) shares ticked up today after Wells Fargo declared it “Equal Weight,” an improvement from “Underweight.”
Shares of TNDM rose 8.3% at $42.81 apiece in midday trading today. MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — ticked up 6.8%.
According to a report from SeekingAlpha, Wells Fargo’s update claims estimates for Tandem reached a “more realistic” level despite drops in its valuation. This news follows Tandem’s third-quarter results that missed the consensus forecast earlier this month. The company’s earnings report brought its stock down significantly as the company reduced its full-year guidance, too.
However, the past few days brought positive news for the company. Last week, Tandem said a study of adults with type 2 diabetes supported its t:slim X2 automated insulin delivery system. Patients achieved improvement in all clinical endpoints with the technology, which currently does not hold approval for type 2 diabetes. Now, Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen and colleagues gave Tandem a further boost with this upgrade.
Analysts wrote that, despite improved outlooks on the company, challenges remain. They expect Tandem to be faced with adding new patient starts with competition from Insulet’s Omnipod 5 and Medtronic’s MiniMed 780G.
Omnipod 5 holds FDA approval but faced a slight setback recently. Insulet announced yesterday that it issued a medical device correction related to an issue with the Omnipod 5 controller’s charging port and cable.
Recent study data supports the Medtronic next-generation MiniMed 780G, but it still hasn’t garnered FDA clearance. It picked up Health Canada licensing earlier this month and the company today launched an extended infusion set for its MiniMed 600 and 700 series pumps.
However, Wells Fargo said questions remain over the timeline for U.S. approval given a September warning on cybersecurity issues with MiniMed pumps.
