Swiss bank UBS has downgraded its recommendation on Smith & Nephew PLC’s (LON:SN.) shares to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ due to scepticism over the share of the surgical robots market the medical equipment manufacturer will be able to command.
UBS also cut Smith & Nephew’s price target to 1,340p from 1,363p.
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“Our underlying market view is that the adoption of surgical robots will be widespread in orthopaedics has not changed. However, we now believe our initial assumption of S&N’s share of the market was too positive,” UBS analysts said.
The bank also said it sees a risk of a potential slowdown in the hip and knee market and could not be more positive on the company’s prospects until new CEO Namal Nawana unveils a "concrete strategy" for the group.
Shares in Smith & Nephew pared early losses and were trading down 0.3% at 1,359p in mid-morning trade.