The stock market may be a bubble at this point, and investors may need to look for countercyclical or noncyclical stocks to own to weather a pullback without losing ground – and maybe taking advantage of some fresh momentum that could come from that rotation process.
One of the most interesting areas of the market for such a positioning strategy could be the pharmacy services space, where one has access to a lack of cyclicality while also benefitting from growth in services arising from increasing technology integration (think: telehealth and telemedicine) and a key role in the battle against COVID-19.
With that said, here are some of the most interesting names in the space: Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX), Progressive Care Inc. (OTCMKTS:RXMD), and Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD).
Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) frames itself as a company that provides health care information technology solutions and tech-enabled services in the United States and internationally. The company offers Cerner Millennium architecture, a person-centric computing framework, which includes clinical, financial, and management information systems that allow providers to access an individual’s electronic health record (EHR) at the point of care, and organizes and delivers information for physicians, nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, front- and back-office professionals, and consumers.
It also provides HealtheIntent platform, a cloud-based platform to aggregate, transform, and reconcile data across the continuum of care; and CareAware, an EHR agnostic platform that facilitates connectivity of health care devices to EHRs. In addition, the company offers a portfolio of clinical and financial health care information technology solutions, as well as departmental, connectivity, population health, and care coordination solutions. Further, it provides tech-enabled services, such as implementation and training, remote hosting, operational management services, revenue cycle services, support and maintenance, health care data analysis, clinical process optimization, transaction processing, employer health centers, employee wellness programs, and third-party administrator services; and complementary hardware and devices for third parties.
Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) recently announced that Jerome Labat has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
With more than 30 years’ experience in technology and product development leadership at other global Fortune 500 companies, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) and Oracle, Labat brings extensive experience in cloud automation, product portfolio strategy, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployment and other critical engineering expertise that are well aligned with Cerner’s technology strategy.
It will be interesting to see if the stock can break out of its recent sideways action. Over the past week, the stock is net flat, and looking for something new to spark things. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 5% in that time on strong overall action.
Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) managed to rope in revenues totaling $1.4B in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 1.6%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($398.8M against $1B, respectively).
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX) bills itself as a company that provides information technology solutions and services to healthcare organizations in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company also just announced a new deal with MSFT that we will cover below.
MDRX offers electronic health records (EHR), connectivity, private cloud hosting, outsourcing, analytics, patient engagement, clinical decision support, and population health management solutions. The company operates in two segments, Clinical and Financial Solutions and Population Health.
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX) just put out a release noting that the company and its clients have taken significant actions to ensure effective care delivery in the communities they serve. With unwavering dedication to patient health, caregivers from both large hospital systems and independent physician practices around the world continue to excel in the face of the unprecedented crisis to help manage their patients and combat the spread of the virus.
New York State’s largest health system and longtime Allscripts partner, Northwell Health, was at the epicenter of the outbreak in its initial stages. The system is powered by more than 72,000 clinicians and administrators, and many of its facilities use the Sunrise electronic health record to treat patients and analyze data to identify trends to help improve patient outcomes amidst the pandemic.
It will be interesting to see if the stock can break out of its recent sideways action. Over the past week, the stock is net flat, and looking for something new to spark things. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 8% in that time on strong overall action.
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX) generated sales of $416.7M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of -7.6% on the top line. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($212.1M against $1.2B, respectively).
Progressive Care Inc (OTCMKTS:RXMD) is “a personalized healthcare services and technology company”. It operates a number of pharmacies under the PharmCo RX brand and has an integrated technology, data analytics, testing, and patient management system, along with ecommerce and same-day delivery of prescriptions and products.
The company has been benefitting from a surge in demand for its rapid-results antibody test kits (COVID-19 IgG/IgM) registered through the FDA under its Emergency Use Authorization guidelines for conducting SARS-CoV-2 antibody presence and COVID-19 infection diagnosis testing.
The company has put up impressive numbers, with consolidated monthly gross sales across all locations during May totaling $3 million, representing year-over-year growth of 67%. It was 54% the month before, and 105% in March. And it was even better before the pandemic hit.
Progressive Care Inc (OTCMKTS:RXMD) has been working towards integrating a strong technology services model to bring more scalability into the picture ahead of a coming uplist onto the Nasdaq exchange. As a case in point, the company just announced the launch of “ClearMetrX”, the Company’s first wholly-owned data analytics company with services designed to support health care organizations across the country.
The idea to consolidate data analytics and reporting services in a separate, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company is based on the Company’s evaluation of the data analytics and reporting tools in current pharmacy operations. Over the past 9 months, the Company has generated over $250,000 in data management fees with gross margins exceeding 80%. By creating a separate entity for these services, the programs can be delivered nationwide without the competitive pressures associated with pharmacy. The new subsidiary will focus on providing insights, data security, and technological development. The Company plans to transition data service customers from the pharmacies to the ClearMetrX platform to better scale the products and improve the capabilities of existing analytics options.
If you’re long this stock, then you’re liking how the stock has responded to the announcement. RXMD shares have been moving higher over the past week overall, pushing about 18% to the upside on above average trading volume.
Progressive Care Inc (OTCMKTS:RXMD) generated sales of $9.1M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a monthly year-over-year growth rate of 62% on the top line as of the Company’s last monthly performance update.
Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) operates a chain of retail drugstores in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Retail Pharmacy and Pharmacy Services. The Retail Pharmacy segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of other merchandise, including over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, food and beverages, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise, and other every day and convenience products.
It also operates retail clinics that provide treatment for common conditions; and provides preventative services, such as screenings, medical tests, immunizations, and basic physical exams. In addition, this segment offers healthcare coaching and disease management services. The Pharmacy Services segment provides pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services and a range of pharmacy-related services. This segment also performs prescription adjudication services for other PBMs; and offers integrated mail-order and specialty pharmacy services, as well as drug benefits under the federal government’s Medicare Part D program.
Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) continues to follow CDC guidance to ensure safety of customers and associates With COVID-19 cases rising and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urging widespread adoption of face coverings, Rite Aid will require customers to wear face coverings in all locations effective Tuesday, July 21.
If a customer does not have a face covering, Rite Aid will provide one free of charge.
Even in light of this news, RAD has had a rough past week of trading action, with shares sinking something like -5% in that time. That said, chart support is nearby and we may be in the process of constructing a nice setup for some movement back the other way. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 21% in that time on strong overall action. Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) pulled in sales of $6B in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of 12.2%. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($288.3M against $2.6B, respectively).
