Wells Fargo has put a number on the damage Boston Scientific Corporation’s (NYSE:BSX) August cybersecurity incident could do to its third-quarter results, which comes up to roughly $300 million in sales and about $0.13 per share in earnings.
Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen lowered the firm’s price target on Boston Scientific to $48 from $50 on September 24, while maintaining an Equal Weight rating, and also reduced its fiscal Q3 estimates to account for the estimated net impact of eight days of operational downtime.
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The more interesting part of the update, however, may be what Wells Fargo did not change. The firm left its growth estimates for 2027 and beyond intact, suggesting that, at least for now, it views the cyber disruption primarily as a near-term financial setback rather than a reason to alter its longer-term growth assumptions.
Bull Case
Boston Scientific’s (NYSE:BSX) own updates support the distinction between a significant short-term disruption and its longer-term financial position. The company identified unauthorized activity on certain systems on August 25, resulting in a network outage that affected its ability to manufacture products and process and ship customer orders. Boston Scientific subsequently said the incident was likely to have a material impact on its third-quarter and full-year 2026 results and that it was unlikely to meet the sales-growth and adjusted EPS guidance it previously issued.
Operations have since recovered, as the company reported on September 9 that manufacturing, order fulfillment, and shipping operations were fully restored, with products moving through its distribution network at or above normal levels. The company was continuing to work through orders that accumulated before and during the disruption. Boston Scientific has also said it expects to recover some portion of the revenue affected by the incident as it fulfills customer orders and reduces remaining backlogs, although the full financial impact remains unknown.
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Wells Fargo is taking a deliberately cautious approach to that possibility. Its estimates assume no procedure recapture or inventory build in the fourth quarter, while acknowledging that the assumption could prove conservative. More importantly for the longer-term BSX thesis, Wells Fargo made no changes to its growth estimates for 2027 and beyond. Boston Scientific itself has similarly said that it does not expect the cybersecurity incident to have a material impact on its long-term financial condition.
Bear Case
The immediate financial hit could still be substantial enough for investors to pay attention to it. Wells Fargo estimates the eight days of downtime will have a net impact of roughly $300 million on third-quarter sales and approximately $0.13 on EPS. Those are Wells Fargo estimates rather than figures provided by Boston Scientific, but the company has independently acknowledged that the incident is likely to materially affect both its third-quarter and full-year 2026 results.
The company also no longer expects to meet its previous 2026 guidance. It now expects net sales growth for the full year 2026 to be approximately 5.5 to 6.5 percent on a reported basis and 5 to 6 percent on an organic basis versus the prior-year period. Furthermore, Boston Scientific now estimates adjusted EPS, which excludes certain charges, of $3.28 to $3.32.
There is also uncertainty over how much disrupted business can ultimately be recovered. Boston Scientific expects to recapture some affected revenue, but it has not yet quantified that amount. Wells Fargo’s decision to assume no fiscal Q4 procedure recapture or inventory build avoids giving the company credit for a recovery that has not yet been demonstrated. That uncertainty helps explain why Wells Fargo maintained an Equal Weight rating despite leaving its longer-term growth estimates unchanged.
Conclusion
Wells Fargo’s update draws a fairly clear line between Boston Scientific’s (NYSE:BSX) near-term earnings problem and its longer-term growth outlook. The firm estimates a roughly $300 million fiscal Q3 sales impact and a $0.13 EPS hit, yet has not changed its growth assumptions for 2027 and beyond.
Whether that separation holds will depend partly on how much of the affected business Boston Scientific ultimately recovers. The company has restored manufacturing, order fulfillment, and shipping, but the full financial impact remains to be confirmed. Boston Scientific plans to provide an updated operational and financial outlook for the remainder of 2026, incorporating the anticipated impact of the cyber incident, when it reports third-quarter results on October 28.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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