What happened
Amid a broad market sell-off that took an especially nasty toll on technology stocks, telemedicine pioneer Teladoc (TDOC 2.46%) tanked 10.4% in trading on Monday.
So what
Teladoc didn't release any news today, so the sell-off in the company's shares was likely tied to widespread selling as investors ratcheted back exposure to technology-oriented stocks that have made big moves higher this year. If so, then today's drop could offer investors an opportunity to buy Teladoc's shares on sale.
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Teladoc markets its telehealth solution to employers and insurers as a more convenient, lower-cost option than traditional in-office visits. Its membership already exceeds 23 million people. In the third quarter, acquisitions and growing adoption of telemedicine resulted in patient visits increasing 110% to 641,000, and sales increasing 62% to $111 million.
Since Americans collectively visit doctor offices or emergency rooms over 1.2 billion times a year, and about 417 million of those visits could've been done using telemedicine, it appears that there's still a lot of growth opportunity ahead of this company.
Now what
Teladoc's shareholders are still up 52% in 2018 despite today's drop, and there's little indication that momentum for telemedicine solutions is peaking.
Telemedicine adoption rates are below 1% in the U.S., but use could increase substantially as new technology makes it easier for patients, and doctor shortages become an even bigger problem. There are approximately 62 million Americans with no or inadequate access to primary care because of physician shortages, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. And there could be a shortage of up to 49,300 primary-care doctors in the U.S. by 2030, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, because of aging baby boomers.
Although Teladoc isn't profitable yet, those figures suggest that demographic tailwinds could provide plenty of growth that could help it get into the black. And while there's no telling when that will happen, the potential to disrupt this industry could make it a top stock for growth investors to buy after this sell-off in its shares.
