Did you know that the average American racks up roughly $13,000 in medical expenses annually? Products, procedures, and methods of accessing healthcare may change from time to time, but overall spending in the healthcare space rises with a consistency that investors should learn to appreciate if they don't already.
National health expenditures in the U.S. reached $4.3 trillion in 2021, and the government expects that spending will keep rising at an average rate of 5.4% annually through 2031. Whether you're seeking a growing stream of dividend income or explosive growth, one of these healthcare stocks has you covered. Here's why I'd buy either one right now without hesitation.
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Inari Medical
You probably don't give them much thought, but blood clots are responsible for an outsized share of healthcare spending. Inari Medical (NARI 0.92%) develops specialized clot removal devices, and its sales are soaring. In the second quarter, its revenue rose 28% year over year to $119 million.
Inari Medical has come a long way, but it's still just scratching the surface of its addressable market. Pulmonary embolisms are clots that jam up the blood vessels that serve the lungs. They are responsible for between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, and roughly three-quarters of cases are still managed with powerful blood thinners under observation at a hospital.
Inari's FlowTriever device is essentially a catheter that scoops pulmonary embolism clots right out of blood vessels so patients can get back on their feet and out of the hospital faster. Inari Medical thinks the addressable market for FlowTreiver is worth $2.8 billion annually in the U.S. alone. Combined with ClotTreiver, a similar device that scoops clots out of peripheral veins, Inari thinks its worldwide addressable market is worth more than $15 billion annually.
Inari's device sales come at a wide 88% gross margin, but the company's reinvesting nearly every penny it makes into expanding its operation. Net income came in at just $2.1 million during the second quarter.
With an addressable market in excess of $15 billion annually, this company's recent market cap of just $3.6 billion seems far too low. Investors with a strong tolerance for risk would do well to add some shares of this growth stock to a diversified portfolio.
CVS Health
Shares of CVS Health (CVS -0.22%) have fallen by around 30% from the high point they reached last summer. Now you can scoop up shares of the healthcare giant for the ultra-low valuation of just 5.6 times trailing free cash flow.
At its current share price, CVS Health offers a 3.3% dividend yield, and investors can count on its payouts to rise in the years to come. The company paused its dividend hikes from 2017 through 2021 to help pay down the debt it incurred to acquire Aetna, its health insurance benefits management business. If not for that temporary pause, the company would have 20 years of consecutive annual raises under its belt.
CVS Health's pace of dividend growth has been remarkable. Despite that hiatus in hikes, its payout is up by 169% over the past decade.
When it delivered its second-quarter report, CVS Health significantly lowered its adjusted earnings-per-share guidance for 2023. From a prior forecast range of $6.90 to $7.12, management cut its forecast to a range of $6.53 to $6.75.
That adjustment was made partly in response to an abrupt loss of four-star ratings for Medicare Advantage plans that cover millions of people. Insurers receive bonus payments from the government when their Medicare Advantage plans exceed four stars, and many of the rules were relaxed during the COVID-19 emergency. The company expects to lose up to $1 billion in operating earnings this year due to Medicare Advantage plan rating adjustments.
It's just a matter of time before CVS Health's Medicare Advantage plan ratings and related bonuses return. In the meantime, shareholders can look forward to improved profit margins thanks to the recent acquisition of Oak Street Health, an organization of primary care providers that operates out of more than 170 medical centers nationwide.
CVS Health's valuation is so low right now that long-term investors could realize market-beating gains even if the company's bottom line never grows again. Profits may dip in the months ahead, but America's consistently increasing healthcare needs will most likely pull CVS Health's bottom line steadily higher when viewed on a longer time frame.
