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Inogen (INGN) Rises 127% Year to Date: What's Driving the Stock?

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Inogen (INGN - Free Report) witnessed strong momentum in the year-to-date period. Shares of the company have surged 127.1% compared with 9.1% growth of the industry. The S&P 500 composite has risen 17.4% during the same time frame.

With healthy fundamentals and strong growth opportunities, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company appears to be a solid wealth creator for its investors at the moment.

Headquartered in Goleta, CA, Inogen develops, manufactures and markets portable oxygen concentrators (POCs), used by patients who suffer from chronic respiratory conditions and need long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). POCs concentrate the air around the patient, filter out nitrogen and other unwanted substances, and deliver oxygen.

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Catalysts Driving Growth

High Prospects in the POC Space: We are optimistic about the POCs’ superiority over conventional oxygen therapy (known as the delivery model). Inogen primarily develops, manufactures and markets innovative POCs to deliver supplemental LTOT to patients suffering from chronic respiratory conditions.

INGN’s proprietary Inogen One and Inogen Rove systems concentrate the air around the patient to offer a source of supplemental oxygen anytime, anywhere, with a battery that can be plugged into an outlet. Per a report by Data Bridge Market Research, the POC market was estimated to be $1.58 billion in 2022and is anticipated to reach $3.03 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 8.5%.

Product Portfolio: We are optimistic about Inogen’s expanding product portfolio. The company has received the FDA 510(k) clearance for the Inogen Rove 4, which will be launched soon. The Rove 4 will offer patients a new flow setting compared to the earlier versions, a service life of up to eight years and highest oxygen production. It is also the lightest weight POC in the market.

Inogen launched Rove 6 in the U.S. market in July 2023. The Inogen Rove 6 is the first POC with an expected service life of eight years.

Strong Q2 Results: Inogen’s robust year-over-year uptick in domestic and international business-to-business sales buoys optimism. Solid year-over-year top and bottom-line performances were encouraging. Further, the expansion of the adjusted gross margin bodes well.

On the earnings call, management confirmed that targeting hospitals in addition to individual practitioners through its rental business gave access to patients earlier in their care pathway, increasing the duration over which INGN can receive payments. By expanding its scale, efficiency and throughput in the rental channel, Inogen expects to drive higher profitability over time.

The company is also seeing cost benefits in the form of lower sales and marketing expenses on the back of the recent exit of its third-party relationship in the rental channel. These factors raise optimism about the stock.

Risk Factors

Stiff Competition: The LTOT market has intense industrial competition. Inogen faces competition from several POC producers and distributors as well as suppliers of other LTOT services, such as home delivery of oxygen cylinders or tanks. Given the relatively straightforward regulatory path in the oxygen therapy device manufacturing market, Inogen expects the industry to become increasingly competitive in the future.

A Look at Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Inogen’s 2024 and 2025 loss per share projects a 56.6% and 13% year-over-year improvement, respectively, to a loss of $1.92 and $1.67 per share. The consensus mark for 2024 loss per share has moved down 3.1% in the past 30 days.

Revenues for 2024 and 2025 are anticipated to rise 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively, to $326 million and $339.5 million on a year-over-year basis.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are DaVita (DVA - Free Report) , Aspen Technology (AZPN - Free Report) and Universal Health Services (UHS - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

DaVita has an estimated long-term growth rate of 17.5%. DVA’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 24.2%.

DaVita’s shares have risen 43.4% year to date compared with the industry’s 14.3% growth.

Aspen Technology has an estimated long-term growth rate of 13.1%. AZPN’s earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the same twice, the average surprise being 4.24%.

Shares of Aspen Technology have lost 4.2% year to date against the industry’s 13.5% growth.

Universal Health Services has an estimated long-term growth rate of 19%. UHS' earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.58%.

The company’s shares have risen 48.6% year to date compared with the industry’s 39.7% growth.

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