Vaccines and reopening has boosted travel stocks in '21, but medtech benefits too, with innovation to boot.

US Medtech analyst Bob Hopkins sees elective procedure volumes rebounding in the back half of the year as Covid-related hospital restrictions lift, and patients become able and willing to schedule surgeries. We're coming off a year where procedure volumes ranged from down 50% to flat, a far cry from the 5-7% volumes that the large cap companies typically see. Meanwhile, the 65 & older population is the first to be vaccinated and makes up the majority of surgical procedure volumes. Crucially, the group has longer term drivers too, namely innovation, and Bob briefly gets into these key growth areas including robotics, diabetes/CGM and valve disease.

This podcast was recorded on March 5, 2021.  

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A greener future can lead to more positive economic outcomes, semiconductors can help enable this

Inaction on climate change could reduce global GDP by up to 25% by 2100 according to the G30. US Economist Michelle Meyer believes new policy that helps to limit climate change can be a net positive for the economy, though it's also important to acknowledge the costs, especially in the short term. The new technologies we adopt often require more semiconductor content than the technologies they replace, and US Semis & SemiCap Equipment analyst Vivek Arya points out that rising semiconductor content comes alongside the continuous quest for greater power efficiency on the part of the industry, something that also aids this transition.

"Bank of America" and “BofA Securities” are the marketing names for the global banking businesses and global markets businesses (which includes BofA Global Research) of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Securities, trading, research, strategic advisory, and other investment banking and markets activities are performed globally by affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including, in the United States, BofA Securities, Inc. a registered broker-dealer and Member of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities.