If you’re seeking a highly specific medical-niche investment, RTI Surgical Holdings (NASDAQ:RTIX) is definitely worth looking at. RTIX stock offers investors a chance to participate in potentially revolutionary surgical-implant technology.
RTI Surgical Holdings is known for manufacturing implants designed for use in spinal surgery. These implants can be biologic, but they can also be metal and/or synthetic-based.
However, RTI also provides soft-tissue implants as well as solutions targeting wounds, bone grafts, and bone-void defects.
Plus, there’s a sports medicine angle to be considered with RTIX stock. RTI offers surgeons implant options for a variety of bone-graft, wound and soft-tissue procedures. This company isn’t on many traders’ radars, but RTI Surgical Holdings is a strong contender in an acutely high-need medical market.
A Closer Look at RTIX Stock
Medical stocks can be volatile assets. It is not advisable to allocate a large part of one’s portfolio into a stock like RTIX. The price movements, in both directions, are just too big.
For small positions, though, RTIX stock should be fine. Just be aware that you might be taking a wild ride. In just the past few months, RTIX shares were as high as $4.95 in February and as low as $1.46 in April. As you might expect, the onset of the novel coronavirus was a major factor in the share price decline during that time.
In jerky and somewhat unpredictable fashion, RTIX stock appears to be recovering from the early-April bottom. The shares have been much higher than their current price point. If the bulls can push the stock past the $4 and $5 levels, that could build positive momentum and convince more traders to buy up the shares.
A Monster of a Market
One viable path to success in the world of investing is to concentrate on high-growth markets. The orthopedics market, which RTIX addresses, would certainly fall into the high-growth category.
The data appears to back up this thesis. Fortune Business Insights projects that the orthopedic-devices market will reach an incredible $71.67 billion by the year 2026. The implied compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, from 2018 to 2026 would be an impressive 4.3%.
It’s heartbreaking to consider that approximately 30% of seniors fall each year. Moreover, the United Health Foundation estimated in 2015 that 300,000 adults aged 65 years or older are hospitalized for hip fractures each year.
These statistics are tragic, but they present an opportunity for a company like RTI Surgical Holdings to step up and provide more and better options for surgeons. The company remains on the forefront of this strong-need area and even earned the 2018 Orthopedics This Week Spine Technology Award for its dedication to innovative solutions.
Pushing the Boundaries
RTI’s commitment to the future of orthopedics has been demonstrated, once again, through encouraging clinical data pertaining to the company’s SImmetry Sacroiliac Joint Fusion System.
The company conducted a trial involving 50 patients over a two-year period. The interim results indicated that 98% of the subjects’ treated joints showed evidence of fusion. Not only that, but 78% of patients were opioid-free at the end of the two-year observation period.
RTI Surgical President and CEO Camille Farhat noted the far-reaching implications of these results. “Interim … study data continue to show that joint decortication as part of the SImmetry System helps to achieve real fusion, which supports reduced opioid use and significant pain relief.”
Patients and shareholders should take comfort in such a high success rate in joint fusion and opioid independence. The interim results are, at the very least, proof positive of RTI’s absolute dedication to research and development.
The Bottom Line
There’s no denying that RTIX stock is a fast mover and it’s not for everyone. Still, RTI Surgical Holdings’s commitment to innovative medical solutions is incontrovertible. Thus, as an investment in a high-need niche with strong growth potential, RTIX is a worthy candidate.
As of this writing, David Moadel did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
