Why Medtronic Stock Raced Higher Today

Key Points

• Investors traded out of the company the previous day following its latest earnings release.

• The stock came roaring back on Hump Day, however.

• 10 stocks we like better than Medtronic ›

A clutch of post-earnings price target increases by analysts helped raise Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT) stock at a healthy rate on Wednesday. The sturdy medical device specialist's shares rose by almost 4% on the day as a consequence, a rate that looked especially good next to the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) 0.2% drop.

Healthy raises

Following a trend that began Tuesday after Medtronic published its first quarter of fiscal 2026 figures. The company posted revenue growth of 8% (to almost $8.6 billion), and improved non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted net income by 2% to slightly over $1.6 billion. Both headline numbers beat the consensus analyst estimates, albeit not by much.

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The market, which collectively loves a crushing beat on analyst estimates, basically shrugged at this. Many investors traded out of Medtronic that day.

The sun was shining brighter on Wednesday thanks to that series of price target bumps. By my count, seven analysts tracking the stock upped their fair-value assessments. Among these were pundits at such financial industry heavyweights as Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, and international bank UBS.

Positive moves from cautious pundits

I should note that in all cases, those price target raises were incremental. Nevertheless, the raising analysts frequently sounded bullish notes on Medtronic's prospects. One example was Leerink Partners' Mike Kratky, who only added $1 per share for a new level of $111, but maintained his outperform (read: buy) recommendation.

According to reports, Kratky praised several elements of the company's operations, particularly its cardiac ablation solutions unit. Less positively, the analyst wrote that Medtronic suffered from weakness in its domestic sales.

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Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Medtronic and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $75 calls on Medtronic and short January 2026 $85 calls on Medtronic. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.