Feb. 15--Conventional wisdom in medical technology holds that companies making devices for elective procedures fare the worst in an economic downturn.

Pay the mortgage -- or fork over the copay to treat that embarrassing incontinence issue? For those struggling to make ends meet, the decision is often a no-brainer.

That would seem to apply to American Medical Systems Holdings Inc., the Minne-tonka-based company that makes products to restore "pelvic health" for men and women, treating conditions such as incontinence, enlarged prostate and erectile dysfunction.

Many of the company's products are used in medical procedures that could be deferred if patients face an expensive copay or deductible with their health insurance. Or, in today's economic slump, they might not have any health insurance to pay for the treatment.

"It's not like a broken bone, a heart attack, a brain aneurysm or cancer," said Piper Jaffray analyst Thomas Gunderson. "It's impotence and incontinence, chronic diseases. People tend to live with a chronic disease for several years before they decide to have it fixed."

Despite that, the economy hasn't dampened the company's share performance in recent months -- and Gunderson has a buy rating on the stock. Since reaching a 52-week low of $8.25 a share in late December, the stock has climbed 30.8 percent, closing at $10.79 on Friday.

On Tuesday, when the company reports earnings after the markets close, investors will get a better idea of how American Medical Systems fared in the fourth quarter.

But executives prereleased fourth-quarter revenue figures at an investor conference last month. They were better than the previous guidance and beat Wall Street's estimates, sending the company's shares up 20 percent that day. Fourth-quarter 2008 revenue was $134 million, up 3 percent from the same period of 2007.

The revenue figures give some hint of the business' fundamentals, and how they might shake out in the jittery economy.

Revenue in the men's health division barely budged, growing 0.8 percent to $89 million, partly because of slowing growth of erectile restoration (penile prosthesis) products. The company "was seeing some economic impact on [these] procedures, as men who have in some cases lived with the problem for years elected to delay treatment due to either copays or the lengthy recovery period," wrote Brooks West, an analyst with Craig-Hallum in Minneapolis. He has a buy rating on the stock.