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Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Medifast a Decade Ago

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How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Medifast (MED - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to MED for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Medifast's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Medifast's main business drivers.

With more than 40 years of experience in the health and wellness space, Medifast, Inc. (MED - Free Report) has become a remarkable direct-selling company in the industry. The company is also known for its leading health and wellness community — OPTAVIA — which provides Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time lifestyle solutions. Given consumers’ rising inclination toward health, the OPTAVIA lifestyle solution and coaching support system bode well. Notably, OPTAVIA-branded products contributed 87.2% of the total consumable units sold in fourth-quarter 2020.

Incorporated in 1989, Medifast is a leading manufacturer and distributor of clinically-proven healthy living products and programs. The company produces, distributes and sells weight loss, weight management and healthy living products throughits direct online channels as well as franchise weight control centers.

The Baltimore, MD— based company boasts of a diversified portfolio of more than 170 consumable product options, which include bars, bites, pretzels, puffs, cereal crunch, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes and soups.

Medifast’s manufacturing plant, which is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, is situated in Owings Mills, MD. The company sells different types of products, which are formed on the basis of its proprietary formulas across the United States and the Asia-Pacific.The products are sold under brands such as the Medifast, OPTAVIA, Thrive by Medifast, Optimal Health by Take Shape for Life and Flavors of Home.

OPTAVIA product line is sold through its community of independent coaches who offer support and guidance to their clients. In partnership with OPTAVIA coaches, franchise partners, resellers and its Scientific Advisory Board, Medifast offers comprehensive wellness products and programs that focus on creating sustainable change by helping people learn to incorporate healthy habits into their lives.

Medifast’s annual sales grew 63% in 2021, 31% in 2020 and 42% in 2019 on a year-over-year basis.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio requires research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Medifast ten years ago, you're likely feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in June 2012 would be worth $8,934.44, or a gain of 793.44%, as of June 21, 2022, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 171.07% and the price of gold went up 12.67% over the same time frame.

Analysts are anticipating more upside for MED.

Medifast has outpaced the industry in the past year. The company has been gaining on its OPTAVIA lifestyle solution and coaching support system, backed by consumers’ rising inclination toward health. Also, management’s focus on developing tools and programs to increase efficiency of coaches has been working well. These upsides drove first-quarter 2022 results, wherein earnings and sales grew year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Strength in OPTAVIA remained a driver, with average revenue per active earning OPTAVIA coach up year over year. Encouragingly, the company raised its view. However, higher SG&A costs due to increased OPTAVIA commission costs have been a concern. Also, the gross margin has been under pressure due to increased product and shipping costs. Increased investments in technology can also dent margins.

The stock is up 6.17% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 2 higher, for fiscal 2022. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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