Raymond James is losing confidence in the growth outlook for Medtronic . Analyst Jayson Bedford downgraded shares of the medical device maker to market perform from outperform, citing disruptive supply chain constraints and a slowdown in growth. “Valuation has been our core thesis this year, and this factor still holds, but the implied F2H23 ramp leaves us less confident in our estimates,” he wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. “We fully acknowledge that sentiment is low, but we expect investor skepticism around the revenue ramp to keep the stock range-bound.” In its recent quarterly report, Medtronic beat analysts’ expectations but said revenue fell year over year amid supply chain difficulties. Bedford is skeptical of the company’s fiscal second-half expectations, which imply 8% year-over-year growth. He believes that milestone is unachievable without increased investment in new products or easing supply issues “Supply chain dynamics have disrupted MDT’s growth more so than peers, and our concern is that it will take longer for MDT to regain momentum,” he said. Along with the downgrade, Raymond James also trimmed earnings per share estimates going forward. Shares of Medtronic have slumped nearly 13% this year and fell more than 3% in the premarket. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting
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