My sense is J&J is going to have to acquire to get a growth rate that investors will think is respectable. |
One thing the company loses by not being part of J&J is not having more money for market development education and training |
People are Guidant's most important asset, ... so there are hard trade-offs for Guidant to work through. |
The combination of Guidant and Johnson & Johnson is a stronger threat to Medtronic, |
The combination of Guidant and Johnson & Johnson is a stronger threat to Medtronic. |
The end of the fourth quarter looked better than the beginning, and 2006 is looking OK. |
The less time they give Boston Scientific, the worse it is for Boston Scientific. They have less time to react. |
The price wasn't as important as clearing up some terms and conditions. If Boston Scientific has done that, then I don't know why Guidant's board wouldn't accept this bid. |
The problem that Johnson & Johnson and any company even half the size of Johnson & Johnson faces is buying something that can impact their growth rate, and that's not an easy task. |
There was nothing in the earnings report that would renew investor interest. |
There's a lot of frustration among institutional shareholders and employees who own the stock. |
They could learn from each other. |
They met our reduced expectations. |
They might have passed the acid test of being too big. |
They were being nickel-and-dimed by J&J. They had to get out of that loop. |