Where is Merit headed?

Thoughts?

 

Implosion.

 

I have to strongly disagree. Merit is finally getting some outside council and direction.

 

Saved by the bell? Note long awaited face plant in 2019. Toxic nepotism. Bring on the outside governance.

 

I wonder if Fred will retire soon given the outside governance. I see no way Justin will be promoted to CEO after the above mentioned face plant. Merit could be a very different company this time next year.

 

Fred and Justin will manage to distance themselves from past mistakes and take credit for turning things around. Real heroes.

 

Anyone think Merit could come up for sale?

 

Heard 35-40 sales reps in the drainage and oncology divisions were let go
Today

 

True. Many lay-offs today. Divisions closed. Products moved around.

 

Seems like the norm for Merit to slice off reps and shuffle divisions/products around. How many times has this happened in the last 5 years or so since they first divided the products into the 2 divisions? It has to be at least 4-5 times that they have switched products and divisions around. Yet in almost ever case they have kept all the dead wood in the management areas and just shuffled them around. One day they will see that the issue is not in the field sales team but in sales management. Hell most in management that they have kept on or those moved into management could not get through the 2nd round of interviews for a sales job with any other device company much less a sales management job.
Way too much nepotism in this company going back 10-15 years

 

This is all the EVP of sales. One trick pony. The only one calling the shots. Reorganization after reorganization. Sales always blamed and penalized. Is anyone falling for this smoke screen anymore. It’s been done so many times.

 

Closed a few divisions. Opened a virtual. Cracked off a merit “spine division”. Looks like that is bait to be sold off.

 

A knee-jerk reaction to the increased scrutiny. A lot of people in upper management trying to save their jobs.

 

Free money gone. Now people gone.

 

There were companies that were bought that should not have been. There is the Hero product that continues to underperform, the Define products should not have been bought but was done anyway even when it was shown the market was too small, the embolic products while they did well with high gross margins underperformed because the sales leaders did not know how to counter the competition and refused advice from the sales reps were on the front lines and the list continues. Read the fine print in the sec filings and you will see that Fred bought technologies when the company had a cash flow problem. This continued and continued instead of concentrating on high gross margin products. At some point you have to decide where do you want to play and then focus. If it’s in the commodity type products then play there with high quality and low prices. If you want to start moving upmarket then pick a segment and go for if. There is no strategy from Fred and it appears the new board seems to not have one either.

 

To be fair, Fred does not have the opportunity to purchase upmarket. Med device brokers is a small world. Fred is know as bargain betty. When they see him coming they hide the good stuff. If a company is in conversation with Fred it means their prospects are grim.

 

So it Merit on the market? No one to leave the company to.... who are the big buyers? Boston? Medtronic?

 

I cant see Medtronic or BSCI being interested in buying Merit, there is no ground breaking technology there and all the products are "me too" commodity products

 

What was the extent of the 2020 layoffs? Who is no longer there?

 

So who is going to take over the company if Fred retires ....which is bound to happen soon