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Masimo Completes Divestment of Consumer Audio Business to HARMAN
ZACKS· 2025-09-25 14:25
Core Insights - Masimo Corporation has completed the divestiture of its Sound United consumer audio business to HARMAN International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, marking a strategic shift to focus on core healthcare operations [1][7] - The CEO emphasized that this sale is a significant milestone in Masimo's transformation, allowing the company to concentrate on enhancing patient impact, accelerating innovation, and improving margins [2] Financial Implications - The proceeds from the divestiture will primarily be used for share repurchases, indicating confidence in the stock's intrinsic value and a commitment to enhancing shareholder returns [2][9] - Masimo's shares have experienced a 15% decline year-to-date, compared to an 11.6% decline in the industry and a 14.2% gain in the S&P 500 [3] Strategic Rationale - The exit from consumer audio resolves an overhang that had affected investor perception since the acquisition of Sound United in 2022, aligning Masimo's portfolio with long-term healthcare priorities [5][11] - The timing of the sale coincides with improved operational performance in the healthcare segment, which reported double-digit constant-currency growth and over 50% EPS growth in the first half of 2025 [8] Future Growth Initiatives - Following the divestiture, Masimo plans to focus on three growth "waves": enhancing commercial excellence, accelerating intelligent monitoring adoption, and expanding into wearable patient monitoring technologies [8] - The anticipated buyback program is expected to serve as a near-term financial catalyst, with management indicating that repurchases are the most accretive use of proceeds in the current environment [9][10] Market Positioning - The divestiture positions Masimo to evolve into a pure-play medtech leader, better positioned to capture opportunities in large adjacent markets such as capnography, hemodynamics, and brain monitoring, which represent multi-billion-dollar opportunities [11]