Smith & Nephew plc

NYSE:SNN Stock Report

Market Cap: US$13.1b

Smith & Nephew Future Growth

Future criteria checks 1/6

Smith & Nephew is forecast to grow earnings and revenue by 12.7% and 5.6% per annum respectively. EPS is expected to grow by 12.6% per annum. Return on equity is forecast to be 17.1% in 3 years.

Key information

12.7%

Earnings growth rate

12.62%

EPS growth rate

Medical Equipment earnings growth16.1%
Revenue growth rate5.6%
Future return on equity17.10%
Analyst coverage

Good

Last updated04 Jun 2026

Recent future growth updates

Recent updates

Seeking Alpha • Jan 08

Smith & Nephew: Improving And Undervalued, But Mind The Knees

Summary Smith & Nephew has outperformed peers, driven by strong sports medicine and wound care, despite ongoing ortho business challenges. SNN's major joints segment remains a sore spot, with ongoing underperformance in knees and threats from Stryker's increased focus on ASCs. Management's 6–7% annualized growth guidance through 2028 is ambitious; I expect 5%+ growth with 2-3 points of adjusted EBITDA margin improvement. Current valuation reflects skepticism about SNN's turnaround, but mid-single-digit growth and margin expansion support an attractive risk/reward profile. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Apr 20

Smith & Nephew: Underappreciated Recovery With Strategic Upside

Summary Smith & Nephew is undergoing a turnaround under CEO Deepak Nath, focusing on margin expansion and growth through surgical robotics and regenerative technologies. Despite trading at a discount to peers, the company shows visible margin improvement, offering a compelling value proposition for investors. The base case projects 35% upside by 2025 with a 20% trading margin, while the bull case suggests 50-60% upside with further margin gains. Risks include execution challenges and pricing pressures in China, but strong ESG initiatives and governance structures provide additional investor confidence. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Jan 29

Smith & Nephew Getting No Credit For Self-Improvement Efforts ... But Should It?

Summary Smith & Nephew's stock has underperformed, driven by ongoing market share losses in hip and knee markets and pricing pressures in China, raising concerns about its ongoing multiyear restructuring program. The upcoming fourth quarter results may not significantly help, given ongoing market share pressure in major joints, ongoing headwinds in China, and a lack of clear growth engines. Smith & Nephew needs to execute its self-improvement plan effectively to close the value gap and regain investor confidence in its turnaround strategy, particularly in the major joint business. Despite setbacks, I believe the underperformance is overdone, with long-term revenue growth expected to top 4% and potential margin improvements supporting a fair value in the mid-$30's. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Nov 10

Smith & Nephew: Ready To Reap Demographic, Turnaround Dividends

Summary Smith & Nephew's Q3 results led to a 13% share price drop due to reduced FY24 guidance, mainly from lower demand in China. Despite short-term challenges, long-term fundamentals remain strong, presenting a buying opportunity at current lower prices. The company's 12-point plan aims to boost growth and margins, focusing on orthopedics, productivity, and accelerating growth in advanced wound management and sports medicine. Valuation metrics show SNN is undervalued compared to sector averages, with expected revenue growth and improved margins making it a solid investment. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Aug 22

Smith & Nephew Delivering On Its Turnaround Promise

Summary The Street has taken notice of Smith & Nephew's turnaround progress, with better than expected revenue and margin results driving share price outperformance. While the ortho business has continued to grow, SNN has continued to lose share in major joints and this is the biggest item on management's to-do list now. Management has identified additional savings opportunities that will help boost margins further, and coupled with improved sales execution, could drive EBITDA to 30% over the next five years. Smith & Nephew offers upside into the $40's, but management execution is still absolutely critical to further gains. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Jun 12

Smith & Nephew: Work To Be Done But Still Long-Term Potential

Summary Smith & Nephew's share price has increased by 14% since September 2022, indicating undervaluation. The company showed decent topline growth with a 6.4% increase in revenue last year. While the company's growth plans are transforming the business, there are concerns about the actual performance and management quality. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Dec 28

Smith & Nephew: Orthopedics Growth Continues To Drive Sales Forward

Summary Smith & Nephew shares are down 3.6% since February, but management has increased top-line growth guidance for fiscal 2022. The Orthopedics business unit is showing strong growth potential, with momentum in the EVOS franchise and expansion opportunities for REGENETEN in Sports Medicine. Technical analysis suggests a potential double-bottom reversal pattern, with shares potentially reaching $30+ and even returning to 2021 highs of over $40 if investors can remain patient. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Oct 12

Smith & Nephew Getting More Interesting As A Contrarian Idea

Summary Smith & Nephew's shares have fallen over 20% this summer, despite ongoing improvements in the company's operations, as ortho stocks have been especially weak. The impact of GLP-1 drugs on the knee replacement market is uncertain; reduced obesity could reduce long-term knee implant demand but increase the eligible patient pool in the short-term. Smith & Nephew still faces challenges in its hips and knees business, but there is momentum with its cementless knee and robotics, while sports medicine and wound care are performing relatively well. Smith & Nephew shares look increasingly attractive as a contrarian call. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Aug 01

Smith & Nephew: Entering New Markets But Growth Is Slow Still

Summary Smith & Nephew plc is a long-standing company in the medical device sector, focusing on developing and manufacturing internationally. The company has recently received FDA clearance for its AETOS Shoulder System, aiming to gain market share in the shoulder replacement market. SNN's strong margins and presence in multiple markets provide potential for sustainable growth, but improvements in cash flows and margins are needed. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Feb 21

Smith & Nephew reports FY earnings; initiates FY23 guidance

Smith & Nephew press release (NYSE:SNN): FY GAAP EPS of $0.26 misses by $0.14. EPSA of $0.82. Revenue of $5.21B in-line (flat Y/Y). Cash generated from operations of $581M (2021: $1,048M) with trading cash flow of $444M. Outlook: For 2023, we are targeting: Underlying revenue growth expected in the range of 5.0% to 6.0% (5.0% to 6.0% reported); Trading profit margin expected to be at least 17.5%; Midterm targets updated: targeting 5%+ underlying revenue growth driven by return on innovation investments and execution of 12-point plan; and trading profit margin expansion to at least 20% in 2025 driven by productivity improvements.
Seeking Alpha • Dec 14

Smith & Nephew: Potential Only Has Value If You Can Execute

Summary Smith & Nephew has yet to deliver on its self-improvement initiatives, and the company continues to struggle to make headway in the very competitive market for knee and hip implants. Lack of scale (market share) in major joints makes other margin improvement initiatives even more important, as Smith & Nephew continues to lag peers in operating and EBITDA margins. There's a lot of work left to do, and product innovation takes time, and management will really have to step up where manufacturing and sales efficiency are concerned. Smith & Nephew shares do look undervalued now, but I'd like to see some evidence of better performance in major joints before getting more positive. Long a laggard in the ortho space, I was more bullish on Smith & Nephew (SNN) last September on what I thought were cogent plans from a relatively new management to address and reverse this long-term pattern of underperformance. While a year and change may not be giving them enough time, particularly given the disruptions created by the pandemic, the reality is that the company hasn’t made the expected progress and isn’t getting the job done in either revenue growth or margin improvement. With that ongoing disappointing run of performance, the share price has suffered, falling another 25% or so since my last update and underperforming peers/rivals including Stryker (SYK) and Zimmer Biomet (ZBH), but managing to outperform Enovis (ENOV). While the shares do look undervalued even without significant near-term improvement, I think it’s hard to make an argument for owning them without more evidence of real traction with the self-improvement initiatives. Ongoing Ortho Share Erosion Is A Real Issue One of the biggest concerns I have with Smith & Nephew is the ongoing poor performance of the major joint (hip and knee) business. It has been years since the company outperformed the market in combined hip and knee sales and only once in the last three years has the company outperformed in combined U.S. hips and knees. On the positive side, the knee business has been doing better of late. The business grew more than 7% overall in the third quarter, beating expectations by about 1% and only modestly lagging the broader global knee market (though lagging Stryker’s 13%-plus growth), while the U.S. knee business grew a more modest 4% and lagged the market by more than five points (including nearly 14% growth at Stryker and 10% growth at Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). The news with hips is even worse, with a 1% decline and 4% miss in the third quarter. The global and U.S. hip business has been a better performer in the past, but has been decelerating lately with almost 900bp (worldwide) and about 400bp (U.S.) of underperformance in Q3 after 900bp and 550bp of underperformance in Q2. Smith & Nephew’s exposure to China and value-based pricing actions can explain some of this, and indeed the ortho business was up 5.6% excluding China (up 2.1% as reported overall). Still, weak pricing in China doesn’t explain the ongoing challenges in the U.S. where the company has been losing share. This share loss also comes despite the ongoing expansion of the CORI robotic system (now at over 500 installations, about 20% smaller than Zimmer’s Rosa base and about a third of Stryker’s MAKO base) and new introductions like the Legion Conceloc cementless knee. Management isn’t ignoring the problem, and five points out of the company’s 12-point improvement plan address the ortho space, including efforts to rebuild the demand planning process, expand the adoption and use of CORI, and improve their marketing focus on key brands. Even so, I’m losing confidence that management can really stem these losses, as Stryker appears to be on another level of performance now and Johnson & Johnson and Zimmer are both getting more serious about growth in major joints. I don’t see enough product innovation in major joints to get excited about, and I’d also note that Stryker and Zimmer have been stepping up their game with ambulatory surgery centers (or ASCs), an area of the market where Smith & Nephew has traditionally been stronger. Productivity Remains An Issue, But It May Well Be More Structural Than Management Realizes Another five points of the improvement plan address productivity, including improving the order process, streamlining procurement, and optimizing manufacturing. These are important targets, as Smith & Nephew lags Stryker and Zimmer in terms of core profitability, but I’m not sure manufacturing and sourcing are really the biggest issues, as Smith & Nephew’s gross margins aren’t all that bad. I would, instead, like to see more emphasis on sales productivity and also on the long-term margin/return potential of the businesses/markets in which the company operates. Lack of scale certainly hurts the ortho business, as the company has to have the sales infrastructure of a major joint recon company, but doesn’t currently have the market share to leverage that infrastructure. Management isn’t going to abandon this segment, so it is even more important that efforts to innovate and effectively market those innovations gain traction. As I’ve mentioned before, the wound care business is not all that attractive to me overall, and here too I wonder if the company is frittering away resources and margins in unproductive areas. Given significant price and reimbursement pressures (and this is an ongoing issue), I think this business needs to be run with a much more jaded eye towards maximizing profitability, as it will never really be a growth engine. The Outlook I’ve cut back my revenue expectations, as the company has not only been hit by challenges like value-based pricing, but also weaker performance in major joints. Sports medicine appears to be picking up and I still see potential in niches like the Tula ear tube product (which can be performed under local anesthesia in a doctor’s office), but the ongoing weakness in major joints is a major issue for me. I’m now looking for long-term revenue growth of around 3% to 4%, below management’s 4%-6% target range. Is the potential to do better there? Perhaps, but I don’t have the same level of confidence in management’s ability to execute to that potential. At a minimum, there’s now more pressure to execute on newer growth opportunities like trauma (the EVOS platform) and extremities (a new shoulder implant).
Seeking Alpha • Sep 26

Smith & Nephew: Still A Buy Despite Short-Term Challenges

Summary Medical devices manufacturer Smith & Nephew (S&N) has seen its shares sliding. I do not yet see the growth the company is targeting, but business has been recovering and its interim figures were decent if nothing special. Smith & Nephew's lack of clear growth and stagnant dividend mean for now I value it for what it is with no premium for strong growth prospects. I continue to see SNN stock as a buy. The British-based medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew (SNN) continues to offer an attractive long-term prospect in my opinion. My most recent piece on the company in June, Smith & Nephew: Fair Price For An Attractive Medical Devices Supplier, gave the company a buy rating. Since then, the shares are down a fifth. But I think the investment case remains intact. I therefore continue to rate the company as a buy. Smith & Nephew's Business Performance has Improved but Challenges Remain The company’s half-year report was a mixed bag. Revenues and trading profit slipped slightly compared to the equivalent prior year period but that reflected exchange rate swings as the dollar strengthened. Supply chain challenges were also cited as a reason for soft performance in the orthopaedics division. company half-year report Source: company half-year report I think the Smith & Nephew investment case is pretty straightforward. The business has a strong, established business in areas that typically see strong demand likely to grow over time, in which it has pricing power. Historically that had made for solid business performance and I expect that to be the case in future too. Risks to performance such as the supply chain, inflation and currency fluctuations have reared their head obviously and I expect them to continue to weigh on results. On top of that, I remain to be convinced by the company’s vaunted “Strategy for Growth” as it seems to expect improved performance versus the historical norm without convincing me of the reasons. Inflation will now help, in the sense that it could lead to revenue growth even on flat volumes. At the profit level, inflation also exists, and so that revenue growth will not necessarily translate into improved profitability. I see this as an urgent challenge for the newish chief executive to address. If he is serious about long-term structural revenue growth above the historical norm, what about the business and its approach is likely to deliver it? For now I remain sceptical about this until we see some proof of the pudding and price Smith & Nephew on the basis of its actual business rather than putative growth prospects. The Dividend is Decent but Stagnant One piece of news in the half-year report I saw as negative was an interim dividend held at last year’s level. It explained that this was consistent with the company’s formula of paying an interim dividend equal to 40% of the prior year’s annual dividend. But this is the third year in a row in which the interim dividend has been flat and I think that may also turn out to be the case for the final dividend. For a long time, one of the attractions to owning Smith & Nephew shares was the fact that its dividend increased most years (something I examined a couple of years back in my piece Smith & Nephew: A Long-Term Buy And Hold In Medical Devices). Earnings cover remains strong: last year basic earnings of share came in at 59.8c, which covered the dividend of 37.5c per share 1.6x. So there is no compelling financial reason for the firm’s recent reticence in raising the dividend, especially last year when business got closer to its pre-pandemic norm. It remains to be seen whether this is in effect a deprioritisation of dividend growth by management. If it is, I expect that to weigh negatively on the share price. Meanwhile, the yield of 3.2% is still attractive in my opinion even without a raise, although given the elevated nature of many blue chip U.K. yields right now it is not among the most attractive FTSE 100 yields by some distance. Valuing SNN Stock I rated the company as a buy at the start of June but it has since fallen 20% in value. Does that reflect growing concerns about the business environment for U.K.-based companies, such as a weakening exchange rate, or are there more fundamental valuation concerns behind the fall?
Seeking Alpha • Jul 27

Smith & Nephew 1H 2022 Earnings Preview

Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) is scheduled to announce 1H earnings results on Thursday, July 28th, before market open. The consensus EPS Estimate is $0.78 and the consensus Revenue Estimate is $2.63B (+1.2% Y/Y). Over the last 1 year, SNN has beaten EPS estimates 75% of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 100% of the time. Over the last 3 months, EPS estimates have seen 0 upward revisions and 1 downward. Revenue estimates have seen 1 upward revision and 2 downward.
Seeking Alpha • Jul 12

Smith+Nephew launches app Wound Compass to help reduce variation in wound care

Smith+Nephew (NYSE:SNN) said it launched an app called Wound Compass to help reduce practice variation in wound care. The British medical device maker said the clinical support app is a for health care professionals to help them in wound assessment and decision-making to reduce practice variation. The app categorizes wounds by location on the body, wound type and appearance, among other things, and provides guidance on treatment and when to consult a specialist.
Seeking Alpha • Jun 01

Smith & Nephew: Fair Price For An Attractive Medical Devices Supplier

Smith & Nephew has seen its business performance turn the corner post-pandemic and I expect future growth. The share price has crept up slightly but I continue to see long-term value here. I think there is upside for the patient investor, as well as dividend growth potential.
Seeking Alpha • Jan 26

Smith & Nephew: Valuation Looking More Attractive

Medical devices manufacturer continues to suffer from lower demand than pre-pandemic, but recovery is in progress. The company has set out a growth plan but I don't find it persuasive. But the attractive portfolio combined with a share price fall means I am moving my rating back to bullish.
Seeking Alpha • Nov 06

Smith & Nephew Is A Premium Brand That Should Deliver Something Special

Smith & Nephew is 165 years old, highly adaptable, and will likely outlive us all. And our grandchildren. SNN has paid dividends on its ordinary shares every year since 1937. If value investing founder Benjamin Graham were alive today, I'm confident he would agree that SNN is a dividend SWAN.
Seeking Alpha • Sep 02

Smith & Nephew Leveraged To Post-Pandemic Normalization And Self-Help

Smith & Nephew has been losing share in major joints, but a new cementless knee implant, the Cori robotic system, and an increased focus on ambulatory centers could reverse that. Extremities and joint repair offer attractive growth opportunities, as does the Tula ear tube system, while the wound care business offers good returns on capital but not much growth. The market isn't giving much credit for Smith & Nephew's likely margin improvements in 2021-2023, let alone longer-term turnaround and self-improvement potential.

Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts

NYSE:SNN - Analysts future estimates and past financials data (USD Millions)
DateRevenueEarningsFree Cash FlowCash from OpAvg. No. Analysts
12/31/20287,3389809511,49015
12/31/20276,9548538171,37117
12/31/20266,5777087521,14417
12/31/20256,1646258521,285N/A
9/30/20256,0545588251,215N/A
6/28/20255,9444917971,145N/A
3/28/20255,8774527021,066N/A
12/31/20245,810412606987N/A
9/30/20245,726359454860N/A
6/29/20245,642305301733N/A
3/29/20245,596284241671N/A
12/31/20235,549263181608N/A
9/30/20235,449241102491N/A
7/1/20235,34921822374N/A
4/1/20235,28222166421N/A
12/31/20225,215223110468N/A
9/30/20225,214360213595N/A
7/2/20225,213496315721N/A
4/2/20225,213510392799N/A
12/31/20215,212524469877N/A
9/30/20215,1685396321,051N/A
7/3/20215,1245537951,225N/A
4/3/20214,8425016441,080N/A
12/31/20204,560448492935N/A
9/30/20204,624420420863N/A
6/27/20204,688391347790N/A
3/27/20204,913496554979N/A
12/31/20195,1386007601,168N/A
9/30/20195,044649N/A1,127N/A
6/29/20194,949698N/A1,085N/A
3/29/20194,927681N/A1,008N/A
12/31/20184,904663N/A931N/A
9/30/20184,887690N/A984N/A
6/30/20184,869717N/A1,036N/A
3/31/20184,817742N/A1,063N/A
12/31/20174,765767N/A1,090N/A
9/30/20174,721817N/A1,011N/A
7/1/20174,677867N/A931N/A
4/1/20174,673826N/A890N/A
12/31/20164,669784N/A849N/A
9/30/20164,680570N/A829N/A
7/2/20164,690356N/A809N/A
4/2/20164,662383N/A920N/A
12/31/20154,634410N/A1,030N/A
9/30/20154,702513N/A1,062N/A
6/27/20154,669557N/A940N/A

Analyst Future Growth Forecasts

Earnings vs Savings Rate: SNN's forecast earnings growth (12.7% per year) is above the savings rate (3.5%).

Earnings vs Market: SNN's earnings (12.7% per year) are forecast to grow slower than the US market (17.1% per year).

High Growth Earnings: SNN's earnings are forecast to grow, but not significantly.

Revenue vs Market: SNN's revenue (5.6% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the US market (11.9% per year).

High Growth Revenue: SNN's revenue (5.6% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts

Future Return on Equity

Future ROE: SNN's Return on Equity is forecast to be low in 3 years time (17.1%).

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2026/06/07 11:09
End of Day Share Price 2026/06/05 00:00
Earnings2025/12/31
Annual Earnings2025/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

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Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Smith & Nephew plc is covered by 34 analysts. 17 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Sally TaylorBarclays
Hassan Al-WakeelBarclays
Samuel EnglandBerenberg