With the trading year almost half over and results from the first quarter out, 24/7 Wall St. has created the latest installment of its Ten Worst Managed Companies In America list.
This analysis is based on: 1) one year and five year stock performance relative to the major indexes and other companies in the industry, 2) the company's position in its industry both now and over the last five years, 3) whether management made identifiable and critical decisions which hurt the company, 4) a change in the company's relative market strength compared to its competition, and 5) whether the company could have identified mistakes and changed course quickly enough to avoid a catastrophe.
at no. 3...
3. Boston Scientific (BSX) The medical device maker has made a series of mistakes. None was worse than buying Guidant for $27 billion in 2006. The newly acquired company had problems with recalls of its products early on. At one point not longer after the acquisition, BSX told Fortune that Guidant was not making any money. In early 2007, BSX posted lower profits due to charges from the takeover. What has Boston Scientific done to remedy the problems? Nothing. The trouble has been compounded by a fall-off in the company's drug-coated stent business as medical research has indicated that the product is not as effective as once believed. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Abbott (ABT), and Medtronic (MDT) have entered the market. BSX is left with the option of trying to pay down its $7.3 billion in long-term debt, which could be impossible, or selling the company off in pieces. The BSX board recently renewed the CEO's contract making that decision one of the most mysterious by a company this year. Shares were at $40 before all the M&A mistakes. Now they sit at $14.