With the growing demand for telemedicine, the market could be worth about $450 billion by the time 2032 rolls around. That’s according to Emergen Research. By 2034, it could hit $888.1 billion, says Prophecy Market Insights. All creating big opportunities for telemedicine stocks.
First made popular during the pandemic, it’s become a much-needed fixture for a lot of patients who just don’t want to drive to the doctor or sit in the waiting room. Unless there’s a medical emergency that requires a doctor visit, patients can get prescriptions, treatment recommendations or even have their vitals checked with connected medical devices.
Telehealth platforms are even great for visits with mental health professionals. For example, according to mHealth Intelligence, “Digital mental health visits are also among trends in telemedicine as they rank highest among the specialties in 2023. According to statistics, by the third quarter of 2023, 37% of mental health visits took place virtually, followed by infectious disease, obstetrics and transplant.”
While I personally like to visit my doctor for a more thorough examination, millions of people are opting for telehealth care. And until that trend dies off, investors may want to seriously consider top telemedicine stocks such as:
LifeMD (LFMD)
Let’s start with telehealth company LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD), which has been one of the most explosive telemedicine stocks on the market.
Since bottoming out around $5 earlier this year, LFMD is now up to $8.90. From here, if it can break above resistance, I’d like to see it closer to $15, near-term.
Helping, LFMD recently partnered with Medifast (NYSE:MED). Under the agreement, Medifast will use LFMD’s virtual care technology to provide some of its clients with a clinically supported weight management program, including GLP-1 medications.
Investors loved the news because it further exposes LFMD to a potential $100 billion weight loss market by 2030, as noted in a recent company press release.
Even better, LFMD knocked earnings out of the park. In its fourth quarter, its EPS jumped to 15 cents, which beat by 12 cents. Revenue — up about 60% year over year — came in at $44.86 million, which beat by $4.37 million. This year, “Revenue to be at least $200 million reflecting performance to date in our GLP-1 weight management program exceeding previous guidance, raised from previous guidance of $195 million to $205 million,” added the company.
Hims & Hers Health (HIMS)
There is also Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS), a telehealth company that sells prescriptions and over-the-counter medications online.
Over the last few weeks, HIMS exploded from about $9.50 to a high of $15.12. All after issuing impressive fourth quarter and full-year 2024 guidance.
It also now expects to see Q1 revenue of $267 million to $272 million, which is above expectations for $252.84 million. For the full-year, it now expects to see $1.17 billion to $1.2 billion in revenue, which is above estimates for $1.11 billion.
Even more impressive, as noted by Seeking Alpha, “According to Precedence Research, the U.S. Health & Wellness market – the broad sector in which HIMS operates – achieved a valuation of $1.2 trillion in 2022 and is anticipated to exhibit a compound annual growth rate of ~6% through 2026, reaching $1.5 trillion.”
And, as noted by co-founder and CEO Andrew Dudum: “In 2024, we expect to eclipse $1 billion in revenue and deliver our first full year of net income profitability through a continued focus on building personalized and accessible treatments in each of our core specialties. We believe this approach will meaningfully break down barriers that keep individuals from seeking treatment, which will allow us to bring these unique offerings to tens of millions of subscribers over time.”
Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF (EDOC)
Or, if you want to diversify with top telemedicine at less cost, there’s the Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF (NASDAQ:EDOC).
With an expense ratio of 0.68%, the $9.50 per share ETF invests in telemedicine, healthcare analytics, connected healthcare devices and administrative digitization-related stocks. Some of its top holdings include Dexcom (NASDAQ:DXCM), Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN), Hims & Hers Health, and Tandem Diabetes (NASDAQ:TNDM) to name a few of its 37 holdings.
With telemedicine and wearables monitoring, the sector could get quite big. In fact, according to Global X ETFs, “Following success in diabetic monitoring, wearables are expanding into cardiovascular care. The potential market could be enormous, as an estimated 33mm people have atrial fibrillation and some 1.28bn adults have hypertension.”
“The global telemedicine market increased over 8% from 2022 to 2023, exceeding $94bn. Forecasts suggest the market could reach over $286bn by 2028,” they added. The site also noted that artificial intelligence could be another key catalyst for telemedicine growth.
On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not hold (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.
