Ventilators fuel Philips’ gains

Article Excerpt

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. ADRs $47 remains a buy. The company (New York symbol PHG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 891.0 million; Market cap: $41.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.philips.com) makes industrial health-care products, including X-ray scanners and ultrasound systems, along with consumer goods such as electric shavers and electric toothbrushes. Philips’ sales in the quarter ended September 30, 2020, rose 5.9%, to 4.98 billion euros from 4.70 billion euros a year earlier (1 euro=$1.56 Canadian). If you exclude the contribution of new businesses and operations that the company has sold, its comparable sales rose 10%. That jump was mainly due to strong sales of patient monitors and ventilators to hospitals as a result of COVID-19. Thanks to ongoing cost controls, overall earnings rose 30.4%, to 0.60 euro per ADR from 0.46. The company now expects its comparable sales will rise an average of 5% to 6% each year from 2021 to 2025. Philips…