The dental market is one of the first industries affected by the epidemic because of the risk of exposure to the virus, dental clinics are closed and the number of patient visits is reduced. However, due to the gradual global liberalization and large-scale vaccination, the dental market is now experiencing a substantial recovery. In addition, with the increasing development of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, remote dentistry, and the increase in the number of patient visits, the industry is expected to flourish in the short term.

According to Market Research Future (MRFR), the size of the global dental industry is expected to reach $60.37 billion by 2023, with a CAGR of 6.9 per cent from 2022 to 2030.

Since the beginning of the year, dental equipment companies$Align Technology (ALGN.US)$It has rebounded sharply, with a cumulative increase of more than 60%, and several other dental stocks have also performed well: orthodontic companies$SmileDirectClub (SDC.US)$Up 98%, manufacturer of dental diagnostic equipment and preventive treatment$Envista Holdings (NVST.US)$Up 22%, manufacturer of professional dental products$Dentsply Sirona (XRAY.US)$涨21%。

Among them, Avery Technology last Thursday (February 2) released fourth-quarter results exceeded Wall Street expectations, executives expect revenue will continue to be flat, also better than analysts' expectations. The company's shares rose 27% on the day, driving the dental sector stronger.

Management said the fourth-quarter results reflected a more stable environment for doctors and their patients than in previous quarters, particularly in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as most Asia-Pacific markets outside China. Consumer demand for orthodontic treatment, patient flow at doctors' offices and the use of iTero scanners continued to improve throughout the fourth quarter.

The company also approved a new $1 billion share buyback program, with the previous $1 billion buyback program expected to be completed in the second quarter.

With the exception of Eli Technology, the market capitalization of these other dental-related companies in US stocks is relatively small (less than $10 billion), and some investors may not know much about them. Let's take a look at the history of these companies.

Dentsply Sirona, Inc.

$Dentsply Sirona (XRAY.US)$Is a supplier of consumer dental materials, dental laboratories and professional dental products, and the world's largest dental products company (the second is Avery Technology, and the third is Envista Holdings Corporation spun off by Danaher Corp). The company was created by an equal merger of Dentsply of the United States and Sirona Dental Systems of Germany in 2016, when it became the biggest event that rocked the global oral industry. Prior to the merger, Densberg was the world's largest in the field of dental restoration and consumables. Siemens Dental, formerly Siemens Dental, was separated from Siemens Medical Technology and equipment Division. After the merger, the two companies complement each other and become the largest dental giant in the world.

Dentsply Sirona, Inc. Divided into two sectors: dental technology and equipment (Technologies & Equipment); and dental consumables (Consumables), the two segments accounted for approximately 59 per cent and 41 per cent of income in 2021, respectively. In 2021, the company had total revenue of $4.251 billion and a net profit of $421 million.

Eli Technology

$Align Technology (ALGN.US)$Founded in 1997, headquartered in the United States, is a dental equipment company and a global invisible orthodontic leader, focusing on the design, manufacture and sales of dental-related medical equipment, including oral scanners, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems. The company's business consists of invisible orthodontic braces and scanners. The company first invented the series of invisible orthodontic products in 1999, which created the invisible orthodontic market; it is also a manufacturer of iTero intraoral scanners.

In 2020, Avery Technology achieved corner overtaking through digital business, and its revenue grew against the trend under the negative impact of the epidemic, surpassing Envista for the first time and ranking second in the world with revenue of US $2.471 billion. The company is also the only dental company with positive revenue growth under the impact of the epidemic, while global head dental manufacturers Dentsply Sirona, Inc., Stroeman and Envista Han Ruixiang, a giant of mid-stream channel platform, and dental enterprises such as 3M Company and GC of Japan performed poorly under the impact of the epidemic.

Avery Technology's revenue in 2022 was $3.735 billion, down 5.51% from a year earlier, the first annual decline since 2007; its net profit was $362 million, down 53.17% from a year earlier. Of this total, revenue in the fourth quarter was US $902 million, down 12.6% from the same period last year, while net profit from home was US $41.775 million, down 78.12% from the same period last year. The sharp appreciation of the dollar resulted in a loss of approximately $13.4 million in revenue during the period, and the lower net profit was mainly due to $14.3 million in restructuring and other related expenses in the fourth quarter.

Envista Holdings

$Envista Holdings (NVST.US)$Is a global dental company with dental supplies, implants, dental supplies, implants, dental and dental orthodontics and digital imaging products.

The company was founded in 2018, formerly known as Danaher Corp subsidiary, officially split and listed in 2019, with more than 30 dental brands. Its dental business is mainly handled by three companies, Nobel BiocareSystems,KaVo Kerr and Ormco, which have made great achievements in dental implants, dental implants, orthodontics, dental equipment and consumables.

The company's business consists of two parts, including professional products and technology, equipment and consumables. In 2021, the company had revenue of $2.509 billion and a net profit of $341 million.

SmileDirectClub Inc.

$SmileDirectClub (SDC.US)$Founded in 2014, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a consumer-oriented orthodontic company that connects authorized dentists to orthodontic patients through remote dental diagnostics.

It is worth mentioning that SmileDirectClub is the pioneer of the DTC (Direct To Customer) model, which attempts to provide invisible appliances directly to consumers, bypassing hospitals or dental clinics, but its products can only correct some cases of mild to severe malocclusion. The hidden beauty of Avery Technology is the To Doctors model, which is to sell products and services to doctors and reach consumers through doctors.

Eli acquired a 17% stake in SmileDirectClub through a patent lawsuit in 2016 and reinvested in its IPO in 2018. Hidden Beauty once provided invisible braces to SDC as a third-party supplier, but the cooperation ended because it launched a similar model to SDC in stores, in violation of the business competition agreement.

2021 SmileDirectClub Inc. Realized income of $638 million and net loss of $102 million.

In addition to these dental companies, there are other opportunities for health care companies that are also noteworthy. Some analysts believe that in 2023, inflation, labor shortage and supply chain headwinds may continue to pose a threat to corporate profit margins.$McKesson (MCK.US)$、$AmerisourceBergen (ABC.US)$、$Laboratory Corp of America (LH.US)$、$Cardinal Health (CAH.US)$和$Merit Medical Systems (MMSI.US)$And other companies have shown resilience in an uncertain environment and are likely to benefit from existing opportunities.

Edit / lydia