LivaNova PLC (LIVN) Stock Price & How to Invest

LivaNova PLC is a medical technology company incorporated in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London with major US operations in Houston, and listed on the Nasdaq. It was formed in 2015 by merging Italy's Sorin Group with US-based Cyberonics, which is why the business still looks like two companies bolted together. The Cardiopulmonary segment sells the equipment used to keep a patient alive during open-heart surgery: heart-lung machines (led by the Essenz Perfusion System), oxygenators, autotransfusion systems, cannulae and perfusion tubing sets. The Neuromodulation segment sells the VNS Therapy system, an implanted pulse generator and lead that stimulates the vagus nerve to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, plus development programs in difficult-to-treat depression and, as of 2026, the FDA-approved aura6000 proximal hypoglossal nerve stimulation implant for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. Vladimir Makatsaria has led the company as chief executive since 2024.

The investment picture is a mix of genuinely improving operations and one large, unresolved legal item. In the second quarter of 2026 LivaNova reported revenue of about $390.5 million, up roughly 10.8% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share of about $1.26 against roughly $1.05 a year earlier, and it raised full-year 2026 guidance to 8% to 9% constant-currency revenue growth and $4.30 to $4.40 in adjusted EPS. Both segments grew about 10%, oxygenator share moved from roughly 30% to roughly 40%, and US Medicare reimbursement for VNS implants rose nearly 50% in 2026 after CMS assigned new implants to New Technology Ambulatory Payment Classification 1580. Against that, the company carries a recorded liability of roughly 333 million euros (about $360 million) tied to SNIA, the pre-demerger Italian predecessor whose environmental damages the Italian Supreme Court ruled in March 2025 could attach to LivaNova, and it cut adjusted free cash flow guidance to $140 million to $160 million while raising capital spending to $135 million to build manufacturing capacity. Shares fell roughly 8% on August 5, 2026 despite the beat and the raise, which is a fair summary of how the market currently weighs those two sides.

The largest single item is the SNIA environmental case in Italy, where the Italian Supreme Court ruled in March 2025 that LivaNova can be held jointly and severally liable for SNIA's pre-demerger environmental liabilities, leading the company to record roughly 333 million euros (about $360 million) as its best estimate; the balance sheet carried roughly 345.5 million euros of current liability as of March 31, 2026, and the Public Administrations have asserted a minimum of 108.8 million euros in additional costs on remand to the Court of Appeal of Milan, so the final number and its timing are still open. Free cash flow guidance was cut to $140 million to $160 million while capital spending was raised to $135 million, meaning near-term cash conversion is being deliberately sacrificed for 2027 capacity, and any execution slip on that production line pushes the payoff out. Concentration risk is real: two segments, one implant franchise and one bypass hardware franchise, with no third leg to absorb a shortfall, and cardiopulmonary revenue is tied to open-heart surgical procedure volumes that LivaNova does not control. The obstructive sleep apnea entry puts the company against Inspire Medical's entrenched physician network and payer coverage plus Nyxoah's leadless Genio system, and building surgeon adoption and reimbursement from zero is expensive and slow. Finally, the shares fell roughly 8% on August 5, 2026 despite beating on both revenue and earnings and raising guidance, a reminder that at roughly 18x forward earnings the stock is not priced as a distressed asset and reacts sharply when the cash flow line disappoints.

10 analysts publish price targets on LIVN, averaging $84.80 against a $78.14 price as of August 2026, or +8.5%. The published targets run from $67.00 to $95.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 8 buy, 1 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 7 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full LIVN forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on LivaNova PLC. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Epilepsy pricing and reimbursement reset. Effective January 1, 2026, CMS assigned new VNS Therapy implants to New Technology Ambulatory Payment Classification 1580, lifting Medicare reimbursement for the procedure by nearly 50% versus 2025. The most optimistic published target, $95.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. The largest single item is the SNIA environmental case in Italy, where the Italian Supreme Court ruled in March 2025 that LivaNova can be held jointly and severally liable for SNIA's pre-demerger environmental liabilities, leading the company to record roughly 333 million euros (about $360 million) as its best estimate; the balance sheet carried roughly 345.5 million euros of current liability as of March 31, 2026, and the Public Administrations have asserted a minimum of 108.8 million euros in additional costs on remand to the Court of Appeal of Milan, so the final number and its timing are still open. The most pessimistic target, $67.00, is roughly what LIVN is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on LIVN, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see LivaNova PLC's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$1.47 billion
• Revenue (Q2 2026): ~$390.5 million (up ~10.8% year over year)
• Net Income (TTM): ~$189 million (~12.8% net margin)
• Adjusted EPS Guidance (FY 2026): ~$4.30 to $4.40, on 8% to 9% constant-currency revenue growth
• P/E Ratio: ~23x trailing, ~18x forward
• Market Cap: ~$4.3 billion (share price ~$78)

LivaNova trades at roughly 23x trailing and roughly 18x forward earnings against a US medical equipment peer group that has generally sat in the mid-20s, so the market is applying a discount rather than a growth premium despite both segments growing near 10%. The most common explanation is the unresolved SNIA liability of roughly $360 million, which is about 8% of the market capitalization and has no fixed settlement date, plus the cut to adjusted free cash flow guidance ($140 million to $160 million, down from $160 million to $180 million) as capital spending rose to $135 million. Analyst price targets published around the second-quarter report clustered near an $86 average with a range of roughly $67 to $90 across about ten covering firms, which is a narrow band by small-cap medtech standards and reflects a business whose operating trajectory is easier to model than its legal one.

Other names that sit close to LIVN: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get LIVN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so LIVN sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where LIVN fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

LivaNova is a two-segment medtech running at roughly $1.47 billion in trailing-twelve-month revenue with both segments growing near 10%, priced around 23x trailing and roughly 18x forward earnings, where the investable question is whether the sleep apnea launch and the sharply better epilepsy reimbursement compound faster than the SNIA legal overhang and the capacity spending that just cut free cash flow guidance.

Whether LIVN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is LIVN a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the LIVN stock forecast.

For income investors, whether LIVN pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does LIVN pay a dividend? And to weigh LIVN against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: LIVN vs MDT and LIVN vs CMS.