Should You Retain Henry Schein Stock in Your Portfolio Right Now?

Henry Schein, Inc.’s HSIC joint venture, Henry Schein One, is driving strong growth in its core products and introducing new solutions. The company’s worldwide reach with its widespread channel and network mix is a major competitive advantage over other players in the industry. Meanwhile, investors are concerned about headwinds like a dull macroeconomic scenario and fierce competition affecting Henry Schein’s operations.

In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock fell 0.1% compared with the industry’s 1% decline. The S&P 500 composite rose 9.3% in the same time frame. 

The leading distributor of healthcare products and services has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion. Henry Schein beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 2.40%.

Tailwinds for HSIC Stock

Widespread Network and Channel Mix: Henry Schein strategically set up distribution centers worldwide to better serve customers and increase its operating efficiency. In March 2025, the company expanded its range of solutions and services in the Hawaiian Islands through the acquisition of R. Weinstein, Inc. 

Apart from North America, the company has a presence in Australia and New Zealand as well as in emerging nations like China, Brazil, Israel, the Czech Republic and Poland. Henry Schein’s worldwide reach is a major competitive advantage over other players in the industry.

Meanwhile, the dental equipment business is finally stabilized in the United States following last year's cyber incident and is witnessing increased investments from customers across Europe and Canada. In the first quarter of 2025, practice management software, including Dentrix-Ascend and Dentally cloud-based solution, along with revenue cycle management products, posted sales growth within the company's Global Technology segment. 

Henry Schein One Holds Potential: Henry Schein seems upbeat about its dental technology joint venture, Henry Schein One. The dental software business has been progressing well, driving robust gains across its core products, including practice management software — Dentrix Ascend and Dentally — revenue cycle management, analytics and AI solutions. During the first quarter, Henry Schein One’s practice management software and revenue cycle management products posted growth, overcoming the impact of Change Healthcare’s cyber incident. In line with this, the company has over 9,500 customers subscribed to its Dentrix Ascend and Dentally, with year-on-year growth of nearly 20%.

During 2024, Henry Schein One made several developments, including its partnership with Bridge, a patient engagement technology provider, to develop and launch axiUm Engage platform in 2025. Additionally, the company announced the availability of a new cybersecurity solution, Adlumin Managed Detection and Response (“MDR”), to help dental organizations better protect their businesses and sensitive healthcare data against growing cyber threats.

Headwinds for HSIC Stock

Macroeconomic Challenges: The current macroeconomic environment across the globe is affecting Henry Schein’s financial operations. Particularly, exchange rate fluctuations, inflation and recession are adversely impacting the company’s operational results. With the sustained macroeconomic pressures, the company may struggle to keep its cost of revenue and operating expenses in check. During the first quarter, Henry Schein’s cost of sales increased 0.4%, which dented the gross profit by 1.2%. Further, the company faced a contraction of 34 bps in gross margin. 

Tough Competition: The U.S. healthcare products and service distribution industry is highly competitive and consists principally of national, regional and local distributors. The competition in the fast-growing animal health market is also fierce. The competitive landscape in the overseas market is also tough. The tussle for market share might be a drag on results.

HSIC Stock Estimate Trend

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSIC’s 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has moved north 0.6% to $4.87 in the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 revenues is pegged at $12.96 billion, indicating a 2.3% rise from the year-ago reported number.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Phibro Animal Health PAHC, Prestige Consumer Healthcare PBH and Inspire Medical Systems INSP. 

Phibro Animal Health has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 26.2% compared with the industry’s 15.9%. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 30.6%. Its shares have rallied 26.3% compared with the industry’s 10% growth in the past year.

PAHC carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Prestige Consumer Healthcare, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has an earnings yield of 5.4% compared with the industry’s 0.6%. Shares of the company have rallied 30.3% compared with the industry’s 10% growth. PBH’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and matched on one occasion, the average surprise being 2.8%.

Inspire Medical Systems, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 28.9% compared with the industry’s 25.2%. Shares of the company have lost 9.5% against the industry’s 19.6% growth. INSP’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 356.9%.

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

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