The selloff in technology firms amid geopolitical turmoil and rising interest rates spilled over into health-care peers, sending the Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF to a record low early last week. Since then, though, the ETF has staged a sharp turnaround, rallying %.
“Weeks like last week suggest a bottom may be forming,” says Glen Santangelo, analyst at Jefferies Group. He noted a % discount to the broader tech sector — versus % before the pandemic — could mean there’s some hope for the heath-care counterpart.
He expects that stocks focused on turning a profit over growth — like revenue-cycle vendor R RCM . or health savings accounts manager HealthEquity . — will be rewarded and eventually outperform. The average analyst price target suggests a % upside for R RCM over the next months and a roughly % gain in HealthEquity, data show.
Santangelo is avoiding companies that came to the market via blank check mergers like Babylon Holdings Ltd., an artificial intelligence-driven symptom checker, which has fallen more than % since its merger last year. Investors are shunning these companies on their limited disclosures, he said.
Like Santangelo, Citi’s Daniel Grosslight recommends investors focus on pockets of profitability. Change Healthcare ., which is awaiting regulatory clearance for an $ billion purchase by UnitedHealth Group ., is Grosslight’s top pick. Even if the deal falls through he is positive on the health-care analytics software company’s standalone value.
Among other preferred stocks are Teladoc Health . and Health Catalyst ., which could put up strong performances in the second half, according to Grosslight.
Teladoc, once a pandemic darling and currently retail trading guru Cathie Wood’s second biggest bet behind Tesla ., has plunged more than % from February peak, three months after Wood talked up her bet on a pandemic surge in virtual care at the Sohn Investor conference.
Still, Wall Street remains relatively divided on Teladoc, with recommending buying the stock and saying hold.
And some strategists warn investors need to tread carefully amid short rebounds in the market that might be a bear trap.
