Healthcare is wooing investors after a strong August reporting season. Pic: Getty Images
ASX healthcare gains 0.77% in past five days after rising 19% in August
Investors digesting information after strong reporting season
Tetratherix sends first commercial shipment of Tetramatrix polymer to the US
Healthcare and life sciences expert Scott Power, a senior analyst at Morgans Financial for 27 years, and his team share their insights on the ASX healthcare sector for the week.
The ASX healthcare sector has continued its winning run into the first week of spring after a strong August reporting season. Healthcare surged 18.83% in August to be top performing ASX sector for the month.
The XHJ has also risen 0.77% over the past five days, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) fell 0.66%.
Power said it had been a strong reporting season for healthcare generally and “better than feared”.
“Now that reporting season has finished there is a lot of information in the market, which is being digested, ” Power said.
“We have seen that rotation from June back into the sector and as long as companies have hit guidance their share price has rallied.”
He said there were broad gains across major health care names, with the exception of medical diagnostics giant Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL).
“Sonic’s FY27 guidance was quite weak and their share price has come under some selling pressure,” he said.
“But overall it’s been a good reporting season for healthcare.”
Power said attention for investors now turned to continued macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures globally, including the prospects of higher interest rates and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“September is also seasonally a weaker month for equities but that then leads into a typically stronger end to the year,” he said.
Monash well-positioned to capture growth
Assisted reproductive services provider Monash IVF Group (ASX:MVF) has posted its FY26 results, with NPAT of $16.1 million, which was below the revised guidance range of $17-18m.
However, Morgans healthcare analyst Emily Porter noted it included a $1.4m write-off of prepaid assets, which if excluded would have seen the result in line.
Revenue slipped 0.9% to $269.5m as softer industry conditions and weaker Australian volumes were partly offset by stronger international growth, higher genetics and ancillary services revenue.
“EBITDA margins were down 460bps driven by softer industry volumes, market share declines in H1, and MVF not putting through price increases across East Coast markets,” Porter wrote in a research note
“This was coupled with wage and supplier cost inflation on a predominantly fixed clinical operating cost base.”
However, the company regained market share in the second half, recruited 10 new doctors during the year, and continued to see growth in new patient registrations.
“We think MVF is well positioned to capture the structural growth in the industry,” Porter wrote.
“It has invested heavily in updating its facilities in all major clinics, with optimisation benefits to come.”
The result comes after Monash IVF rejected an indicative takeover proposal from a consortium in April valuing the company at 90 cents a share.
Morgans now has an accumulate recommendation on Monash and lifted its 12-month price target from 80 cents to 82 cents.
Tetratherix sends first Tetramatrix to US
Tetratherix (ASX:TTX) has sent its first commercial shipment of Tetramatrix polymer to the US, marking the company’s first product revenue under its Precision Medicine franchise.
The shipment is being supplied to Superpower Health under an exclusive STEPP intranasal drug delivery partnership and adds to the existing US$3 million annual licence fee being received.
Tetramatrix is a proprietary polymer designed to improve the delivery and retention of drugs, including through intranasal and implantable applications.
Power said the milestone followed the FDA assigning a UNII registration to the Tetramatrix polymer, enabling export to the US market, and demonstrated the successful scale-up of manufacturing from pilot to commercial-grade production.
Tetratherix also reported scientific validation of the technology, with the STEPP semaglutide delivery program accepted for publication in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.
The study showed enhanced intranasal delivery and retention of GLP-1 therapies, supporting the broader precision medicine opportunity.
Tetratherix has more upcoming catalysts including FDA approval for its dental Tegenix and orthopaedic TegenEOS applications, a strategic orthopaedic partnership for TegenEOS and certification of its manufacturing campus, expected in H1 CY27.
“Our view is Tetratherix continues to make solid progress,” Power said.
“The first commercial shipment to Superpower Health, although dollar value and quantity were not disclosed, is a clear milestone.
“There is plenty of news to come which will maintain investors’ interest.”
Morgans has a speculative buy recommendation on Tetratherix and a 12-month price target of $8.59.
EchoIQ posts FY26 results, awaits FDA decision
FY26 results for Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ) landed largely in line with expectations, with Morgans healthcare analyst Iain Wilkie noting “the real signal is the FY27 outlook section”.
In a research note Wilkie wrote language had shifted more positive, reflecting confidence in US FDA 510(k) clearance for its artificial intelligence (AI) heart failure solution, EchoSolv HF.
“Management framed almost every FY27 priority as ‘convert’ or ‘expand’ rather than ‘develop’ or ‘validate’,” Wilkie wrote.
He wrote while approval delays had weighed on the share price, evidence supporting clearance was strong.
“The market is still waiting on an FDA decision for its heart failure application, which remains the key near-term catalyst and value inflection driver,” Wilkie wrote.
“Despite delays, we maintain a positive view on approval.”
Wilkie noted growth in EchoSolv AS aortic stenosis software, granted FDA 510(k) clearance in 2024, had moderated as the company shifted sales efforts towards heart failure and navigated reimbursement structures, with scan volumes expected to plateau until new hospital sites came online.
He wrote three enterprise proposals covering more than 300 hospitals represented the biggest near-term commercial opportunity for EchoIQ once FDA clearance for its heart failure application was secured.
Morgans retained its speculative buy recommendation and 12-month price target of $1.85 a share.
Saluda posts first full-year result since listing
Saluda Medical (ASX:SLD) has posted a “strong” first full year result since listing on the ASX last December.
Revenue was up 28% to US$90.2m, while gross margin increased to 48.9%, with adjusted EBITDA loss of US$113.7m, which Morgans healthcare analyst Derek Jellinek noted was all ahead of prospectus.
For FY27, management expects revenue growth of 25-35% and gross margin of 50-52%, with the adjusted EBITDA loss narrowing to US$95-$101m.
Saluda has an FDA approved spinal cord stimulation platform called Evoke, using closed-loop technology to automatically adjust stimulation based on a patient’s response.
“Salesforce maturation is key, with 161 US reps at FY26 year-end, 55% fully trained and the majority of the remaining cohort expected to come online in H1 FY27,” Jellinek wrote in a research note.
“Growth looks set to come from higher productivity rather than simply adding headcount, with ~30% of territories operating below a 40% fully loaded rep-cost/revenue threshold, providing evidence that the territory economics can work.
“We see FY27 as the first meaningful test of the model’s scalability, with higher physician utilisation, maturing territories and the CAP24 paddle lead providing potential upside to guidance.”
Saluda’s CAP24 is a paddle lead for its Evoke spinal cord stimulation system and was granted FDA approved in June 2026.
“The paddle lead provides access to a cUS$670m market previously outside SLD’s addressable customer base,” Jellinek wrote.
“Management expects a phased commercial launch later in CY26 to provide incremental growth, although hospital value-analysis processes make the pace of adoption difficult to forecast.”
Morgans maintains a speculative buy on Saluda but has reduced its 12-month target price from $2.94 to $2.17 per share.
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Disclosure: Scott Power own shares in Tetratherix. Morgans Corporate Limited was joint lead manager to the placement of shares for Tetratherix in May 2026 and has received fees in this regard.
Nadine McGrath owns shares in Sonic Healthcare.