Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/493786
6 Worcester Business Journal • April 13, 2015 www.wbjournal.com It pays to be our business Customer. With a new way to go from fee to free. Avoid a monthly maintenance fee with TD Business Convenience Checking Plus. Use your business checking and personal checking account balance to maintain the low minimum daily balance of $1,500. Stop by one of our convenient locations, visit us online at tdbank.com/smallbusiness or contact James Ciociolo, Relationship Manager, at 1-508-368-6510 or Eric Torkornoo, Relationship Manager, at 1-508-368-6943. TD Bank, N.A. | Combine business checking and one personal checking account balance to meet the minimum daily balance requirement. | Please refer to Business Deposit Account Agreement for complete details. Other terms and conditions may apply. Boston Scientific Corp. Marlborough BSX $13.25 $17.75 34% IPG Photonics Oxford IPGP $74.92 $92.70 23.7% SeaChange International Acton SEAC $6.38 $7.85 21.5% Cognex Corp. Natick CGNX $41.33 $49.59 20% Waters Corp. Milford WAT $112.72 $124.32 10.3% Psychemedics Inc. Acton PMD $15.15 $16.59 9.5% Oxford Immunotec Marlborough OXFD $13.62 $14.08 3.4% Harvard Bioscience Holliston HBIO $5.67 $5.82 2.6% Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology Holliston HART $3.18 $3.25 2.2% TJX Cos. Framingham TJX $68.58 $70.05 2.1% The Hanover Insurance Group Worcester THG $71.32 $72.58 1.8% Ocata Therapeutics Marlborough OCAT $6.09 $6.16 1.1% Sevcon Inc. Southborough SEV $7.80 $7.82 0% Providence & Worcester Railroad Worcester PWX $18.09 $18.08 0% Virtusa Corp. Westborough VRTU $41.67 $41.38 -0.1% Kopin Corp. Westborough KOPN $3.62 $3.52 -2.8% Unum Group Worcester UNM $35.13 $33.73 -4% L.S. Starrett Co. Athol SCX $19.93 $19.00 -4.7% Dover Saddlery Littleton DOVR $4.95 $4.65 -6.1% Arrhythmia Research Technology Fitchburg HRT $7.76 $7.25 -6.6% Aspen Aerogels Northborough ASPN $7.98 $7.28 -8.8% Staples Inc. Framingham SPLS $18.12 $16.28 -10.2% AbbVie Inc. Worcester ABBV $65.54 $58.54 -10.7% AMSC Devens AMSC $7.40 $6.44 -13% EMC Corp. Hopkinton EMC $29.74 $25.56 -14.1% ReWalk Robotics Marlborough RWLK $18.88 $12.36 -29.2% RXi Pharmaceuticals Marlborough RXII $1.60 $0.72 -55% Company City or town Stock symbol Jan. 1 open March 31 close Change Taking stock Boston Scientific turned in the best stock performance among Central Massachusetts' public companies in the first quarter of 2015. Sources: Yahoo Finance, Google, Nasdaq, Ycharts (Editor's Note: Taking Stock, a new feature, will be pub- lished quarterly to highlight the market performance of public companies that are either based or that have a significant presence in Central Massachusetts.) I t's amazing what can happen when you're no longer staring down the barrel of a lawsuit. Before Boston Scientific (BSX) reached an out- of-court settlement with rival Johnson & Johnson over the 2006 acquisition of Guidant Corp., its stock price had been making steady gains, from $13.25 a share at the start of the year to $14.84 on Feb. 17, up 12 percent. But on Feb. 17, BSX agreed to pony up $600 million to Johnson & Johnson, avoiding what would have been a much costlier $7.2 billion. In one day, the stock soared 12.4 percent to $16.68, boosting the firm's value as it broke free from the shackles of a potentially huge liabil- ity. Just two weks later, BSX announced its largest acqui- sition since it ponied up $27.2 billion for Guidant: a $1.65-billion deal to buy the urology division of American Medical Systems. That deal will add to BSX's urology treatments line. Here are first-quarter spotlights on two other stocks: Staples (down 10.2 percent, to $16.28) – Amid investor pressure, the Framingham-based office supply retailer bought chief rival Office Depot for $6.3 billion. Will it help? It will at least wring out a lot of costs. But the growth of ecommerce has had a major impact on spe- cialty retail segments such as office supplies. ReWalk Robotics (down 29.2 percent to $12.36) – The manufacturer of the exoskeleton, which helps peo- ple with spinal cord injuries walk, hit the market last September at $12 a share. It traded as high as $43.70 before retreating to its quarter-end price, still a 3-percent gain above its IPO launch price. Q Boston Scientific leads the way to open the year BY RICK SAIA Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer