On Mar 26, we issued an updated research report on athenahealth Inc ATHN. The company’s strong product portfolio, solid network expansion strategies and unique business model are tailwinds.
Consequently, athenahealth is one of the top-performing stocks in the MedTech sector. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Further, an improvement in share price and strong fundamentals indicate analyst’s bullish sentiments.
Price Performance & Estimate Revision Trend
Estimates for athenahealth have moved upward over the past 60 days, reflecting analysts’ optimism in the stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 and 2019 earnings have been revised 29.8% and 25.8% upward to $3.79 and $4.49, respectively.
Shares of this company have outperformed the industry in a year’s time. The stock has returned 25.3% compared with the industry’s rally of 6.5%.
athenahealth, Inc. Price and Consensus
Let’s focus on the factors that make athenahealth an attractive pick for investors.
Favorable Factors
athenahealth’s portfolio comprises a wide array of products that include electronic health records, revenue cycle management, medical billing, patient engagement, care coordination, population health management and Epocrates.
By the end of the fourth quarter of 2017, athenahealth launched its first machine-learning model to automate faxes. The company also piloted services like authorization management, which is likely to expand its client base throughout 2018.
athenaInsight, an online news hub that reports on U.S. healthcare activities and trends of healthcare providers and de-identified patients, has been fortifying the company’s footprint.
In 2017, athenahealth expanded its patient record sharing capabilities with CommonWell and Carequality.
For full-year 2018, the company expects adjusted operating margin in the range of 16-17%. The company has not provided any guidance for adjusted earnings. athenahealth estimates total revenues in the range of $1,310-$1,380 million.
Other Key Picks
A few other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are Bio-Rad Laboratories BIO, Varian Medical Systems, Inc. VAR and PerkinElmer PKI.
Bio-Rad Laboratories sports a Zacks Rank of #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The company has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 20%.
Varian Medical has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 8%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy).
PerkinElmer has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 12.3%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.
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