Inogen Claims Top Position In Deloitte List On Solid Growth

After a solid third quarter of 2017, Inogen Inc. (NASDAQ:INGN) was recently recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in North America by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.

The acknowledgment is primarily based on Inogen’s solid fundamental growth story, with revenues improving almost 169% from $75.4 million in 2013 to $202.8 million in 2016. Notably, this is the fourth consecutive year of the same recognition for Inogen. The company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 recognizes growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. The award winners have been selected on the basis of revenue growth recorded from 2013 to 2016.

Factors Driving Inogen

We believe Inogen’s direct-to-customer business model has lent it a leading position in the oxygen therapy market. The direct-to-consumer model gives companies an opportunity to build a unique brand-relationship with customers. Earlier this year, the company signed a lease for its expansion site in Ohio to accelerate growth in domestic direct-to-consumer sales channel. The growing direct-to-customer sales and marketing efforts help drive awareness among patients. Growth in physician referrals is also expected to boost the top line over the long term.

Inogen raised its guidance for 2017 revenues to $244-$248 million from the previous $239-$243 million. This represents year-over-year growth of 20.3% to 22.3%.

Inogen’s expanding product portfolio is a key catalyst. The company provides oxygen concentrator solutions for portable and stationary use. Inogen’s flagship product, One G4 is a single-solution portable oxygen concentrator (POC). Furthermore, Inogen One G3 portable oxygen concentrator lends mobility and independence to oxygen therapy users. This platform is the lightest continuous flow oxygen concentrator in the market and consumes much less power than other devices, fortifying the company’s footprint in the Long-term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT) market.

Favorable Market Trends

A research report by Transparency Market Research suggests that the North America oxygen therapy devices market is expected to see a CAGR of 5.5% from 2015 to 2023, to reach a worth of $1.58 billion in 2023. Favorable market trends are indicative that Inogen will grow manifolds in the years to come.

Internationally, Inogen should benefit from developing countries' incremental investments in health care systems. Further, an underpenetrated oxygen therapy market and favorable reimbursement scenario in countries like Germany, France and the U.K. present significant growth opportunities for Inogen. Germany is estimated to be the second largest market in Europe for medical oxygen systems.

Share Price Movement

Inogen's share price movement over the past six months has been favorable. The company represented a return of almost 41.8%, better than the broader industry's gain of just 6.7%. The current level is also higher than the S&P 500’s return of 8.3%.

Stocks to Consider

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) , Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) .

Notably, PetMed Express sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 10%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Luminex represented a stellar return of 6.4% over the last year. The stock has a Zacks Rank #1.

Intuitive Surgical has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 9.1%. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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