< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team
Elisabeth Clive
Sanford C. Bernstein
First-Place Appearances: 1
Total Appearances: 5
Team Debut: 2010
With her advancement from runner-up, Elisabeth Clive delivers Sanford C. Bernstein’s first No. 1 ranking for its coverage of Europe’s medical technologies and services companies. Clive has been with the firm since July 2006, joining as a senior research associate tracking this space and regional midcap pharmaceuticals. In 2011 she became a senior analyst and made her debut appearance on this roster, as co-leader of Bernstein’s third-place squad. Previously, she spent five years at Credit Suisse, working in New York as a health care capital markets analyst before moving to London to be part of that firm’s health care and consumer group. Clive, 36, holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from New Jersey’s Princeton University. Her published work is “innovative,” observes one advocate, who deems Clive “a very good analyst with lots of data and the first to come out with new topics.” Managing a coverage universe of nine names, the researcher has a positive outlook, noting that concerns surrounding pricing in the pharmaceuticals industry have been increasing, in part because 2016 is an election year. This means that companies in her group will do well, as investors looking for health care exposure will rotate into the sector. “While pricing pressure is a concern in certain subsectors of the industry, the magnitude of the pressure is generally moderate, while the pace of decline in pricing is gradual,” explains Clive. At the same time, “there are several subsectors in medtech that are less mature, which offer significant volume growth as the markets continue to develop, including sports medicine, advanced wound management and dental implants.” For the year ahead the Bernstein researcher is recommending that clients favor Smith & Nephew, a British manufacturer of endoscopy products, orthopedics devices and wound management treatments. “In our view it is at an inflection point,” she says, “and after a stagnant period for earnings growth, we see the stock’s earnings accelerating in the coming years.” She is forecasting a 17 percent earnings-per-share compound annual growth rate to 2020, through a combination of stronger topline gains, margin expansion and tax rate reduction, as well as the potential for management to pursue a significant share-repurchase program, in the absence of any major M&A activity.
