Thoratec (NASDAQ:THOR), NxStage Medical (NASDAQ:NXTM) Top Medical Devices Ideas in 2011 for Canaccord

Medical devices analysts Jason Mills and William Plavonic, from Canaccord Genuity, released their top two companies for 2011.

They are:

A) Thoratec (NASDAQ:THOR) Mr. Mills recommends investors accumulate shares of THOR at current levels for the following reasons: 1) We believe THOR's value is much higher than current trading levels based on its earnings potential in 2011 and 2012; 2) The huge untapped patient population (namely the “DT” cohort); 3) The potential for its new product pipeline to produce further advancements in durability, size and full-implantability, which could help mitigate the Street's expectation of massive share loss (i.e. 70-80% by 2015; we continue to model THOR with a 51% overall market share in 2015); and 4) Our continued belief the LVAD market will continue to grow much faster than most if not all major med-tech markets over the next 5+ years. We also note that THOR has a sizeable cash position (>$450M), with which it can diversify its product portfolio and/or buy back shares, which it has done in the past.

B) NxStage Medical (NASDAQ:NXTM) - NxStage Medical remains Mr. Plavonic’s top growth name entering 2011 for the following reasons: 1) The company has a great deal of momentum considering the improved reimbursement landscape; 2) Additional positive data released from the NIDDK study; 3) Overall increased attention toward performing more dialysis in the home; and 4) Of note, the Q3/10 results represented the fourth consecutive quarter of very strong home hemodialysis results and the eighth consecutive quarter of outperformance for home hemodialysis growth.

NxStage Medical closed Wednesday at $23.61, up $0.02, or 0.08 percent. Thoratec closed at $27.66, down $0.27, or 0.97 percent.