With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Teladoc Health (TDOC Stock Report) is suddenly becoming a hot stock to watch. The healthcare systems in both developed and developing countries are stretched beyond their capacities. With most of the healthcare resources diverted to Covid-19, resources for other health issues are taking a back seat. A bright spot amid the pandemic is the rise of telehealth stocks.
Telemedicine has not shared the same success story compared to other technology services. Despite the ongoing hype surrounding telemedicine, not everyone is betting big on telehealth stocks yet. While some investors are skeptical on the prospects of telemedicine, certain telehealth stocks have been making investors rich.
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As companies and schools began to adopt social distancing measures. Those that greatly benefited include companies such as Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM Stock Report), Slack Technologies Inc. (WORK Stock Report) and New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (EDU Stock Report). The Covid-19 pandemic brought telemedicine into a new light.
As healthcare professionals limit the number of people they come into physical contact with, the demand for remote care soared. One telehealth stock has attracted a lot of attention for this particular reason. TDOC stock is up more than 120% year-to-date, with S&P 500 down around 13% during the same period. Even though the share price has already soared, analysts believe that TDOC stock could continue to climb even higher. Here are a few reasons:
Teladoc Stock Jumps 92% In Q1, Revenue Tops $180M
Teladoc saw total visits skyrocketed in Q1 2020 as the company experienced a huge increase in demand from the pandemic. The company’s performance in Q1 is the latest indication that global pandemic has contributed to the popularization of virtual care. This could be just the beginning of a much stronger trend. As the pandemic isn’t showing conclusive signs of slowing down just yet.
Teladoc’s pre-existing infrastructure is helping to bridge the gap between patients, physicians and healthcare systems. By not having the need to visit hospitals or doctor’s offices. Patients can save on transportation expenses and reduce the risk of contracting contagious diseases. This business is undoubtedly a good addition to the healthcare services landscape.
This could supplement America’s overstretched health-care system during this pandemic. Until there’s a vaccine, which could take well over a year to develop. Covid-19 is still going to be a problem that prevents the world from returning to normal. And that means Teladoc’s services are likely to continue seeing strong demand, making it the best stock to buy now.
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“In the first quarter of 2020 alone Teladoc Health delivered two million medical visits to people around the world, while simultaneously expanding access to millions of new members,” Jason Gorevic, CEO of Teladoc Health, said in a statement. “As our clients and consumers have turned to us during these unprecedented times, our proven ability to meet their needs has elevated our global leadership role and accelerated our impact on the healthcare system overall.”
Bullish Bets On Telehealth Stocks Is Here To Stay
A number of large, publicly-traded health services companies such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH Stock Report) and Humana Inc. (HUM Stock Report) and even Amazon (AMZN Stock Report) are branching into telemedicine. Increased participation from bigger companies in the telemedicine space globally indicates that such service is crucial and shall be an integral part of the healthcare system going forward.
We cannot predict when the next global health crisis is going to happen. Considering the fact that we have experienced 4 notable outbreaks in the last decade, namely Ebola, Zika, MERS and H1N1. We should not be surprised if another health crisis happens a few years down the road. While demand for telehealth started off slow in the United States. Telehealth in China is showing a much stronger pace in terms of adoption.
Telehealth or online healthcare in China is poised to explode into a 198 billion-yuan business by 2026, or almost 20 times its 2016 size of 11 billion yuan, predicts researcher Frost & Sullivan.
“Everyone in the business is exploring, and investors are watching, to see how internet health-care companies can make a profit.”
Good Doctor’s chief executive officer, Wang Tao
There are several reasons to consider TDOC stock as an addition to your portfolio, and they all center around the company’s long-term growth potential. The ease of accessing telehealth services would be transformative to healthcare services. As telehealth services still have a long growth runway to go, it would be wise to bet on Teladoc being the leader in this space. We do not believe TDOC stock has peaked yet as it is poised to grow in importance to become a bigger name in the healthcare industry.
