Adtalem Rebrands as Covista With Focus on Healthcare Workforce Needs

Adtalem Global Education ATGE spent the past four years reshaping operations to focus on healthcare education and workforce development in America. The strategy aligns the company with the growing demand for trained medical professionals nationwide. Reflecting this change, the company will operate under a new name, Covista, with shares set to trade under the ticker CVSA on the New York Stock Exchange from Feb. 24, 2026.

The move represents more than a name change, as Covista has aligned operations to help address the national healthcare workforce shortage while expanding training capacity and supporting a long term talent supply. The company positions itself as workforce infrastructure that operates at scale.

The new brand highlights healthcare focus, institutional reach and clinical depth. Covista stated that the approach supports students who are often underserved by traditional education. This includes working parents, career changers and other nontraditional learners.

Covista Research Highlights the Scope of the Workforce Gap

Covista released new research that examines the U.S. healthcare workforce crisis. The Covista Care Capacity Monitor was fielded by Gallup. It combines survey responses from more than 1,300 clinicians and 160 healthcare executives with labor market data across all 50 states. Findings are presented through an interactive data visualization that allows users to review shortages by state, metro area and clinical role.

Results show that staffing gaps are affecting care delivery. About 76% of clinicians and 73% of executives reported that shortages impact the ability to provide high-quality care. Half of the executives stated that reduced staffing has lowered patient capacity.

Demand continues to exceed supply. More than 702,000 healthcare jobs are posted each month. Around 306,000 unemployed healthcare workers are available. Employers post more than two openings for every unemployed worker. Shortages are seen across locations and job types.

Artificial intelligence is being adopted in several areas such as documentation, electronic health records and diagnostics. Most executives see a positive impact on care quality. However, many believe AI alone will not fully address staffing gaps.

Rural communities face added pressure. About 85% of rural healthcare executives reported difficulty finding local talent, compared with 45% in metro areas. Some states show extreme gaps, including 20 monthly vacancies per job seeker in New Hampshire, 18 in North Dakota, 11 in Wyoming and seven in Virginia. While many clinicians reported high satisfaction with employers, attrition risk remains. Around 15% of physicians and 13% of registered nurses indicated plans to leave the profession within the next year.

Executives rated talent partnerships as effective. Yet only a limited share is investing heavily in such efforts. The research also found that school ownership status has little influence on hiring decisions.

Covista’s Multi-Year Commitment to Strengthen the Healthcare Workforce

Covista introduced a multi-year commitment called Covista Open Doors. The program aims to build and sustain the healthcare workforce. It focuses on career exploration, financial support for students and programs that address mental health and burnout.

Initial actions include a partnership with NAF to encourage healthcare careers, the launch of a Student Emergency Care Fund and investments in nonprofit groups that support the well-being of healthcare workers. Covista stated that these measures are intended to remove barriers and strengthen the future supply of healthcare professionals.

ATGE’s Price Performance

Shares of Adtalem have trended upward 8.8% in the past three months, outperforming the Zacks Schools industry’s 6% growth. The company is benefiting from solid enrollment growth and improved profitability driven by efficiencies from scale and operational excellence. During the second quarter of fiscal 2026, total student enrollment rose 6.3% year over year to 97,010. As the company captures current healthcare education market demands, it continues to expand reach with inclusive access to education.

ATGE’s Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks

Adtalem currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other top-ranked stocks from the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are Flexsteel Industries FLXS, American Public Education APEI and GIII Apparel Group GIII.

Flexsteel currently carries a Zacks Rank 1. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12.1%, on average. FLXS stock has gained 33% in the past three months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Flexsteel’s fiscal 2026 sales indicates growth of 4.5%, while the earnings per share (EPS) estimate points to a 1.9% decline from the year-ago level.

American Public Education currently has a Zacks Rank of 1. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 173.7%, on average. APEI stock has gained 42.5% in the past three months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Public Education’s 2026 sales and EPS implies growth of 7.1% and 106.5%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

GIII Apparel currently has a Zacks Rank of 2. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 64.5%, on average. GIII stock has gained 9.3% in the past three months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIII Apparel’s fiscal 2027 sales indicatesa 5.7% decline, while the EPS estimate points to 6.9% growth from the year-ago level.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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