Ahead Of The Bell: Edwards Lifesciences Upgraded

NEW YORK (AP) — A Craig-Hallum Capital analyst upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corp. saying the heart device maker's core surgical franchise will continue making progress.

Analyst Brooks West upgraded shares to "Buy" from "Accumulate" and raised his price target to $78 from $72.

He said the company stands to gain potentially significant share from Medtronic's CoreValve product, following the launch of Edwards' Sapien XT heart valve in Europe. In July, analysts voiced concern over third-quarter sales of Sapien.

Brooks also said Edwards' lead over CoreValve in the timeline to the U.S. market may be wider than perceived and said his checks show that U.S. cardiologists believe upcoming studies of Sapien XT will pull patients and physicians away from CoreValve.

Shares of Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards Lifesciences closed at $65.52 Thursday.