Inari Medical soars on Stryker acquisition

Investing.com -- Inari Medical Inc (NASDAQ:NARI ) shares surged sharply after Stryker (NYSE:SYK ) announced that it would acquire the medical device maker in an all-cash deal valued at $4.9 billion

The acquisition strengthens Stryker’s position in the market for treating venous thromboembolism, a condition where blood clots form in veins, as well as other vascular diseases. Stryker will pay $80 per share for Inari, as initially reported by Reuters.

Inari stock surged more than 21% in premarket trading Tuesday, extending its 30% gain a day earlier. Prior to the deal, Inari’s shares had declined about 21% over the past year, performing better than the broader drop in the S&P 500 Health Care Equipment index.

Stryker shares slid over 1% in the premarket trade. 

“The acquisition of Inari expands Stryker's portfolio to provide life-saving solutions to patients who suffer from peripheral vascular diseases,” said Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo. “These innovations elevate the standard of care for venous thromboembolism patients and will accelerate Stryker’s impact in endovascular procedures.”

Inari, which specializes in devices for treating venous diseases, had been exploring a potential sale in recent weeks, engaging with advisers after receiving interest from Stryker and other potential buyers, according to Reuters.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

Following the acquisition announcement, Baird analysts downgraded Inari stock to Neutral from Outperform.

“The deal comes as no surprise to us as we often viewed SYK as a logical strategic acquirer of NARI's market-leading, high-growth, product portfolio, currently approaching profit inflection,” analysts led by David Rescott said.

“At $80/share ($4.9B equity value), NARI's takeout EV/Sales valuation of ~6.7x/5.8x FY25/FY26 seems reasonable,” they added.

Similarly, Canaccord Genuity analysts cut their rating on Inari shares from Buy to Hold, while raising the target price to $80 from $74.

“The $80 takeout price is a ~24% premium to today’s closing price and is ~61% higher than the open price,” the firm said in a Monday note.

“We do note that the acquisition price is at a significant premium to the 2026 EV/Sales 15% high-growth comp group multiple for FY26 of 4.4x,” they added.

Source: Investing.com