Amazon (AMZN +0.63%) is a behemoth in e-commerce, but the company also needs new ways to grow its operations. And in recent years, healthcare is one area that it is focusing on. The U.S. healthcare market is worth more than $4 trillion and is a relatively untapped opportunity for Amazon.
The big question mark is how the tech titan's strategy will play out and how big of a player it wants to be. Recently, however, the company may have offered a subtle hint about what it's planning.
Amazon isn't looking to do it all on its own
The challenge with developing a healthcare business is building trust with consumers. That's not an easy thing to do when a company tries to go at it by itself. For example, Amazon launched its own telehealth service, Amazon Care, but ultimately pulled the plug on that late last year. With a slew of competitors out there, people have many options to choose from, and it likely would have taken a long time for the company to grow that into a formidable business.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, Amazon's chief medical officer, Sunita Mishra, admitted that the company doesn't have a clear, laid-out plan for how it's going to expand into the industry and instead suggested it will be "flexible" with its strategy. Mishra also indicated Amazon isn't going at it by itself: "We're not going to be able to do it alone, we know that we're going to have to partner, and we're coming to this with a lot of humility."
A couple of things stand out from that statement. The first is obviously that it's looking to partner, suggesting there could be at least one company (if not more) that Amazon plans to work with or acquire. The second is the mention of humility, which may be an acknowledgment of the struggles it has faced, with the shuttering of the telehealth business being an example of it potentially underestimating the challenges in healthcare. It could mean that Amazon may be looking at more established companies that could help accelerate its growth, in hopes of benefiting from their size and expertise.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
It has made multiple moves in healthcare in recent years
Amazon has been steadily growing its healthcare business over the years. Here are some of the ways it has expanded its operations within the industry:
- It acquired online pharmacy PillPack in 2018.
- It launched Amazon Pharmacy in 2020.
- In January of this year, it introduced RxPass. For just $5 per month, Prime members can get all the eligible generic medications they need through Amazon.
- Amazon closed its acquisition of primary care company One Medical in February.
- In July, it unveiled AWS HealthScribe, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to help physicians with note taking by generating transcripts.
- Amazon Clinic, which helps connect people to telehealth solutions, launched nationwide in August.
The company was also rumored to be in talks to acquire home healthcare specialist Signify Health. CVS Health would ultimately end up buying the business for $8 billion.
Collectively, all of these moves point to a broad healthcare strategy, and it's unlikely that the company is anywhere near done.
Is another acquisition on the horizon?
Odds are Amazon will still be looking at more acquisitions. As of the end of June, the company had $64 billion in cash and marketable securities on its books. That could easily help fund some significant deals in the healthcare industry because valuations have been falling in some areas in recent years. The Global X Telemedicine and Digital Health ETF contains many up-and-coming healthcare stocks and it has lost half its value in just the past three years. Amazon could easily find stocks at relatively low valuations there, including Doximity ($4.3 billion), Teladoc Health ($3.1 billion), and Hims & Hers Health ($1.3 billion).
There are also many others that could be possible acquisition targets for Amazon that wouldn't break the bank for the e-commerce company. It all depends on which direction it ends up going in and how aggressively it wants to pursue it. If it's telehealth, there are many modestly valued stocks in that area. If it wants to be more ambitious in primary care, that may be a bit more costly; CVS recently paid nearly $11 billion for Oak Street Health.
What appears probable, however, is that Amazon will still be eyeing some transactions down the road. And if it's looking for established players in their respective industries, it likely won't be small deals that the company is targeting.
Should you buy Amazon stock today?
Amazon has generated close to $540 billion in revenue over the trailing 12 months. It's a massive beast, but in order to keep growing, it needs to focus on more opportunities, and healthcare is a huge one.
It looks likely that there will be more deals in healthcare involving Amazon; it's just a matter of when they will happen, and which companies it will acquire. But with an appetite for more growth and many resources at its disposal, Amazon is still focused on getting much bigger. And healthcare can potentially provide it with better margins and profits in the long run.
If you're a long-term investor, Amazon is a stock you'll want to consider adding to your portfolio, because this incredibly large and successful business is only going to get even bigger in the years ahead -- especially if healthcare becomes a key part of its overall growth strategy.
