MITEK SURGICAL STOCK JUMPS 2-1/2 IN JULY TO 26-1/2

MITEK SURGICAL STOCK JUMPS 2-1/2 IN JULY TO 26-1/2, a 10.4% gain, on strong second-quarter sales and earnings. Mitek announced July 23 that sales soared 60.8% to $5.2 mil. and earnings gained 59.3% to $893,483 for the three-month period ended June 30 ("The Gray Sheet" Aug. 2, p. 18). The Norwood, Massachusetts firm reported that sales of anchor products for the reattachment of soft tissue to bone grew by 77% during the first six months of 1993. Mitek was one of only four stocks on "The Gray Sheet" monthly Index of over-the-counter issues to advance by 10% or more in July. Overall, 26 issues declined, 14 advanced, and one, St. Jude, was flat for the month. Smaller devices firms were particularly hard hit: 11 of the 14 Index stocks valued at less than $100 mil. declined for the month. However, gains by some of the more heavily weighted issues held the composite Index loss for the month to 1.6%. Scimed, for example, jumped 7.7% or 4-3/4 to 66-3/4 in July, making it the leading point gainer for the period. On July 22, Scimed said it would launch a new percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty guidewire system "within the next few months" ("The Gray Sheet" July 26, In Brief). A week later, the company said it would establish a direct sales force of five-to-15 reps in Japan by the end of the year ("The Gray Sheet" Aug. 2, In Brief). At 66-3/4, Scimed is carrying a price-to- earnings ratio of 18. Among other cardiovascular firms followed by the Index, Cordis moved up 1-7/8 or 5.9% to 33-7/8 in July. During the month, FDA approved its Sleek Long angioplasty catheters with 3 cm and 4 cm balloons and the Predator dilatation catheter ("The Gray Sheet" Aug. 2, In Brief). Datascope, which recently divested its angioplasty division ("The Gray Sheet" June 14, p. 11), was off 3/4, or 5%, to 14-1/4 for the month. Elyria, Ohio-based home care and mobility products firm Invacare gained 2-1/4 to 25-1/4 last month, a 9.8% advance. The firm was among those reporting strong financial results during the month ("The Gray Sheet" Aug. 2, p. 18). The company also announced its most recent acquisition, GSI, Inc., on July 13 ("The Gray Sheet" July 19, p. 23). Electrotherapeutic device firm Empi skidded 7-3/8, or 23.1%, to 24-5/8 in July. Among the top O-T-C Index performers in the first half of 1993, the stock underwent a strong correction following a July 12 article in Barron's which questioned the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) devices. Federal budgetary concerns may also be putting pressure on the TENS field in general: House/Senate budget reconciliation legislation, for example, calls for further reductions in Medicare TENS payments. Target Therapeutics dipped 1/2 or 2.3% to 21-3/4 in July. The Fremont, California company reported during the month "that it is in the process of formulating a response to questions" raised by FDA regarding its Guglielmi Detachable Coil. A 510(k) for the device, designed to treat cerebral aneurysms, was submitted last November ("The Gray Sheet" Nov. 2, 1992, p. 9). "The company believes that it can respond to these questions using existing data supplemented with results from minor additional in vitro laboratory tests," according to Target.