Over the years, the emergence of the internet has resulted in the development of a range of products and services that had been unthinkable before. One of those is providing remote health care through a range of tools like videoconferencing and one of the companies that is at the forefront of the industry is Teladoc Health Inc (NYSE:TDOC).
It provides medical help and care for medical conditions of a non-emergency nature. The company markets its services itself as ‘remote house calls by primary care doctors’ and it is a market that is growing at a steady pace. More importantly, it has been in the industry since 2002 and has grown at an impressive pace.
Why The Stock is Moving Up?
It was four years ago that is listed on the stock markets and has grown its customer base at a breakneck pace. In 2015, when it first went public and currently it boasts of a customer base in excess of 20 million, 95% of whom are satisfied with the service. That being said, the company will soon face steep competition and it is going to come from none other than e-commerce giant Amazon. Amazon is going to start a pilot project providing non-emergency medical services in the Seattle area and the prospect of such a competitor can be problematic for any company.
The announcement naturally led to a dip in the price of Teladoc stock but that did not stop analysts from making bullish pronouncements. Analysts stated that it was a buying opportunity and the company’s management also seemed unperturbed about the whole thing. JP Morgan’s Lisa Gill, who has set an $83 target price on the Teladoc stock stated, “While nothing materially new came out of them, management’s positive commentary and tone again served to reinforce our bullish view on the outlook. We continue to see a significant amount of runway in the telehealth market.”