Apple Inc AAPL has chosen Tim Millet, an experienced executive with a background in iPhone and Mac chip technology, to oversee its mysterious team dedicated to developing a noninvasive blood sugar monitor, indicating a significant move in the company’s health technology endeavors.
The team, known as the Exploratory Design Group (XDG), had been temporarily supervised by Athas’ former deputies, who reported directly to Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies.
Raymond James notes that high-tech diabetes stocks DexCom Inc DXCM, Insulet Corporation PODD, and Tandem Diabetes Care Inc TNDM are -33% (-18% weighted average) YTD vs. -3% for MedTech.
Several factors influence the current market sentiment, including competition, shifts in sentiment dynamics (both acceleration and deceleration), valuation considerations, and the rise in interest rates. However, the most significant factor affecting sentiment is the apprehension surrounding GLP-1s.
Needham predicts that there will be no immediate risks to estimates due to GLP-1s.
Nevertheless, the perceived impact of GLP-1s on the Total Addressable Market and terminal growth has put pressure on valuations. As a result, valuations have reached the lower end of their 5-year range.
Abbott Laboratories ABT is also a player in the arena. Although Apple recently announced updated watches with improved processors, it did not introduce many new health-related features, Bloomberg noted.
However, over the past few years, Apple has integrated sensors for measuring blood oxygen and body temperature and is also working on a blood pressure monitor set to be released in the next two years.
The ultimate goal is to make the glucose monitor small enough to fit inside the Apple Watch.
Price Action: DXCM shares are down 4.25% at $97.24, PODD shares are down 3.26% at $169.00, and TNDM shares are down 6.73% at $21.22 on the last check Friday.
