Novadaq Technologies is a buy, says Byron Capital. Target raised to $15

Byron Capital analyst Douglas Loe says the prospect of Novadaq expanding its installed base and surgical procedural volumes in multiple surgical markets looks increasingly likely.This morning, Novadaq (TSX:NDQ) reported its 2012 Q4 and full year results. The company’s $23-million topline was weighted towards the tail end of the year, with Q4 revenue of $6.8-million. The company’s Q4 profit of $3.09-million helped trim annual losses to $12.34-million.

Novadaq CEO, Dr. Arun Menawat, said the company hopes to buttress its growth with the commercial availability of new products.

“Both the installed base and utilization of SPY imaging systems are growing as surgeons representing multiple specialties continue to report reduced rates of post-operative complications, and lower patient care costs following procedures involving our technologies,” he said. “To further support Novadaq’s long term growth, the commercial and clinical launches of PINPOINT® and LUNA(TM) are progressing as planned.”

Byron Capital analyst Douglas Loe says the prospect of Novadaq expanding its installed base and surgical procedural volumes in multiple surgical markets looks increasingly likely. Loe says high-profile partners like Intuitive Surgical are finding that Novadaq’s SPY is a growth driver for the adoption of its own products. But Loe says the reason for his upgrade today (in a note to clients this morning his raised his rating on Novadaq from HOLD to BUY, and raised his target price from $12 to $15 ) is that he now modeling sales metrics from its rigid endoscope-based fluorescence imaging platform PINPOINT, which is now commercially available in the U.S.

Mississauga-based Novadaq Technologies, which was founded in 2000, designs imaging technology products used in surgery. The company’s SPY systems allow surgeon to view archive image sequences of blood flow in vessels, micro vessels and tissues in real time during surgery. SPY is FDA cleared for use for use in seven surgical specialties.

Shares of Novadaq on the TSX closed today down 1.5% to $1.16.

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