What happened
The stock of telehealth company American Well (AMWL 0.04%) probably could have used a visit to the doctor this week.
Following the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings last Wednesday, the company was hit with a clutch of analyst price target cuts in the subsequent trading days. As a result, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, its stock price declined by over 7% over the course of the week.
So what
Not one, not two, but three prognosticators trimmed their targets on American Well over the five business days. And one of the trio downgraded her recommendation on the stock.
This was Piper Sandler's Jessica Tassan, who now rates American Well as a neutral; previously she had it tagged with an overweight (i.e., buy) recommendation. She accompanied this with a relatively steep price target cut, to $3.50 per share from the previous $5.
Tassan pointed out in her latest analyst note that the telehealth specialist reported a quarter-over-quarter decline in its all-important subscription revenue in the fourth quarter. She also described the company's full-year 2023 guidance as "tepid."
She wasn't entirely bearish on American Well's prospects, though. Writing about the niche healthcare company's signature telehealth platform, she said that "Early adopters seem to appreciate the enhanced functionality of Converge and we believe the new platform will protect AMWL's long term competitive positioning."
Now what
The two other analysts getting at least a bit more bearish on American Well during the week were UBS' Kevin Caliendo and Charles Rhyee of Cowen.
The former cut his price target on the stock to $3.10 per share from his preceding $4.20, maintaining a neutral. As for Rhyee, his trimming resulted in a new price target of $5 (from $9), although he kept his outperform (buy) recommendation intact.
