Telemedicine stocks could do no wrong during the pandemic.
With millions on lockdown and still in need of medical care, telemedicine stocks, like Teledoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) ran from about $80 to a high of $288.80.
At the time, with the pandemic showing no signs of cooling, analysts at McKinsey estimated “that up to $250 billion, or 20% of all Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial outpatient, office, and home health spend could be done virtually.”
The Trump Administration signed an executive order to extend telehealth services offered to Medicare beneficiaries. And demand for telehealth exploded 38x higher than before the pandemic, added McKinsey.
Even venture capital investments in telemedicine tripled at the time.
And then it was all over. Once the crisis ended, so did the massive run in telemedicine stocks. TDOC, for one, now trades at about $8 a share.
However, while many are now well off their highs, don’t write them off just yet. With patients still using telemedicine for mental health care, prescription refills, obesity treatment updates, etc. there’s still a good deal of opportunity in telemedicine stocks.
Hims & Hers Health (HIMS)
Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS) has been one of the most explosive telehealth stocks on the market.
Since bottoming out at around $6 in late 2023, it rallied to a high of $26. Now back to $17.56 thanks to the broad market pullback, it’s a buy on weakness.
For one, the company will offer a GLP-1 injection that competes with Novo Nordisk’s (NYSE:NVO) Wegovy and Ozempic. “Hims said its treatment uses the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy, the latter of which costs $1,350 per month without insurance,” added Forbes.com.
Two, while the company did come under fire for allegedly referring to its GLP-1 as Mounjaro and Zepbound, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) says HIMS isn’t making any misleading claims.
Three, earnings are expected to be strong after the closing bell today. The consensus earnings per share estimate is 13 cents, which would be 533% year-over-year growth. The revenue estimate is about $301.6 million, which would be 45% year-over-year growth.
Again, I’d use recent weakness as a reason to buy.
American Well Corporation (AMWL)
After slipping from about $45 to a low of $5, American Well (NYSE:AMWL) is showing signs of life again. Last trading at under $10, AMWL just posted better-than-expected earnings.
While it did post an EPS loss of $3.36, it still beat estimates by 54 cents. Revenue of $62.8 million, up 0.6% year over year beat by $1.19 million. Better, the company issued slightly- improved guidance. It now expects to post an adjusted EBITDA loss of between $145 million and $150 million instead of a loss of $155 million to $160 million.
It’s nothing to write home about, but it shows some progress.
Helping, analysts at TD Cowen just raised its price target to $12 from $2 with a hold rating. Stifel also raised its price target to $9 from $2 with a hold rating, noting that 2024 guidance “looks achievable,” as noted by TheFly.com.
Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF (EDOC)
Or, if you’d rather diversify with 41 telemedicine-related stocks at less than $9 a share, there’s the Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF (NASDAQ:EDOC).
With an expense ratio of 0.68%, the ETF invests in companies involved with telemedicine, healthcare analytics, connected health devices and digitization. Some of its top holdings include Resmed (NYSE:RMD), Insulet(NASDAQ:PODD), Doximity (NYSE:DOCS) and Tandem Diabetes (NASDAQ:TNDM).
Technically, the EDOC ETF has been bouncing around in a tight channel between $8.50 and $9.50 for most of the year. Eventually, I’d like to see it break out with an initial test of $10.25.
On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.