What happened
Teladoc (TDOC -0.07%), a stock that has been hammered recently by a set of analyst price-target cuts, got another pundit ding on Friday. On the back of this latest reduction, the bellwether telehealth company's share price declined by 2.3%, a steeper fall than the 1.5% drop suffered by the S&P 500 index on the day.
So what
The analyst getting more bearish on Teladoc Friday was Credit Suisse's A.J. Rice. He trimmed his price target by 10%; it now stands at $27 per share from the preceding $30. Rice maintained his neutral recommendation on the specialty healthcare stock.
With the move, the analyst joins a clutch of his colleagues who have similarly taken scissors to their Teladoc price targets.
This is in reaction to the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results, which were published near the end of February. While Teladoc beat on both the top and bottom lines, other factors provided less cause for optimism. Its membership rolls grew by 1.8 million souls during the year, but that was well under the 15 million it added in 2021. Investors also found the company's guidance wanting.
Now what
Teladoc was a hot stock during the COVID-19 pandemic, as telehealth became popular as a result of closures and its convenience for shut-ins. These closures affected the healthcare field as badly as they did all other economic sectors.
Since then, however, investors have moved past coronavirus stocks, and this one has struggled to find its footing. The company also continues to habitually post bottom-line losses, and investors have limited patience with such businesses.
