Increasing pet adoption and heightened expenditure on animal health care have helped veterinary companies achieve solid growth amid the pandemic. And we think two prominent industry participants, Siemens Healthineers (SMMNY) and IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX), should benefit from the industry’s long-term growth prospects. But which of these stocks is a better buy now? Read more to find out.Erlangen, Germany-based Siemens Healthineers AG (SMMNY) and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX) in Westbrook, Maine, are two prominent players in the diagnostics and research industry. SMMNY is a medical technology company that operates through four segments--Imaging; Diagnostics; Varian; and Advanced Therapies. The company offers equipment performance management, clinical education, e-learning, asset management, managed departmental services, and digital health products and services. In comparison, IDXX manufactures and distributes products and provides services for the companion animal, veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets worldwide. The company also sells portable electrolytes and blood gas analyzers for the human point-of-care medical diagnostics market.
A significant increase in pet adoption and rising expenditure on the healthcare of both companion and production animals amid the high risk of air and food-borne and other infectious diseases helped the animal healthcare industry generate record profits last year. The surging demand has incentivized companies to develop new, advanced, and viable drugs, vaccines, diagnostic devices, and pet-friendly products and digitize their veterinary services.
Rising investor optimism surrounding the industry’s prospects is evident in the ProShares Pet Care ETF’s (PAWZ) 30.8% gains over the past year versus the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLV) 22.3% gains. The global veterinary care market is expected to grow at a 5.4% CAGR to $114.40 billion by 2028. So, both SMMNY and IDXX are expected to benefit.