Healthcare stocks face mixed shifts

In early March 2026, Cardinal Health announced that Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Mary Scherer plans to retire in February 2027. The company has begun searching for her successor while she remains in place to oversee an orderly transition.

This planned change in a core finance role comes as Cardinal Health emphasizes earnings growth, acquisitions and product innovation as key elements of its longer-term plans. The firm is positioned as a large, scale-driven distributor that is leaning on acquisitions, operational efficiency and higher margin offerings to support future earnings.

Recent performance includes Q4 2025 non‑GAAP diluted EPS of $2.08—characterized by several market outlets as an earnings beat—and a raise to full-year 2026 earnings per share guidance. These results help set expectations for how effectively Cardinal Health can integrate acquisitions such as Solaris Health and expand higher margin businesses.

Analyst/modeling projections put revenue at about $288.0 billion and earnings at about $2.2 billion by 2028, with one valuation framework implying a 16% upside to its current share price. However, the core risk discussion still centers on margin pressure from regulation, tariffs, customer concentration, reimbursement changes and competitive bidding.

On 11 March 2026, SprintRay announced the launch of its Midas World Tour, a collaboration with Align Technology (ALGN), GC America and Meisinger Dental. The initiative promotes an integrated, same-day digital restorative workflow that combines Align’s iTero scanning with AI-driven 3D printing, advanced materials and finishing tools.

This partnership underscores how Align’s iTero scanners are becoming a core component of chairside restorative dentistry as 3D printing moves toward an integrated workflow standard in dental practices. It reinforces Align’s position in digital orthodontics and restorative dentistry, where the company aims to convert scan activity into profitable Invisalign and iTero usage despite macroeconomic headwinds.

Near-term catalysts for Align remain tied to stabilizing clear aligner demand and protecting margins amid pricing pressure and weaker scanner capital spending. The SprintRay collaboration sits alongside governance changes announced on 24 February, when Align modified its bylaws to allow large, long term shareholders to call special meetings, modestly strengthening shareholder rights.

Align’s narrative projects revenue of $4.5 billion and earnings of $674.8 million by 2028, implying a 14% upside to its current price under one set of assumptions. Analyst expectations vary, with some of the most pessimistic forecasts assuming annual revenue growth of about 1.6% to roughly US$4.2 billion, highlighting a wide spread of opinions on the company’s trajectory.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has experienced mixed recent returns, with a small one-day share price gain to US$492.87 contrasted against a roughly 10% share price decline over the past 90 days and a weaker performance year to date. This stands in contrast to a stronger five-year total shareholder return of about 104%, which points to substantial longer term value creation even as near term momentum has faded.

The stock’s recent behavior has prompted questions about how much future growth in medical technology is already reflected in the current price. One widely followed valuation narrative suggests Intuitive Surgical’s fair value is about US$532.46 per share, indicating it could be around 7.4% undervalued relative to the latest close, based on that framework.

Despite revenue and net income growth and higher analyst price targets, shares have largely treaded water over the past year. This has led some market participants to debate whether the market is already accounting for the next leg of the company’s growth or whether there is still room for upside under existing assumptions.