What are the leading health stocks for the elderly?

If you ask veteran players who have been in this field for three or four years, they will most likely not give you a long list of "leading players". At present, there are only five or six core targets that have real business and a tenable market share. The core of the major positions are Yuyue Medical, China Pharmaceuticals, Yuexin Health, and Aojiahua. As for the listed companies that have stakes in Taikang Pension, because their equity proportions are too low and their business linkage is not strong, they are rarely regarded as pure track targets.

I went to Nantong last month to investigate local chain health care institutions. The first page of the core supplier list in the dean’s drawer was printed with the logos of Yuyue and China Pharmaceuticals. The former supplies rehabilitation beds, oxygen concentrators, blood pressure monitors and other rigid supplies to more than 300 beds in the entire institution. Hardware is required, and the latter is the exclusive supplier of all commonly used drugs for chronic diseases. The cooperation has not changed in almost five years, which is why these two are recognized leaders in the industry - they are not created by speculation, but have real business in various health care scenes across the country.

Of course, different people’s judgments of “leading” vary greatly. For example, Yuexin Health is particularly controversial. A friend of mine who focuses on investing in private enterprises for elderly care has owned it for two years. He feels that it is one of the few A-share private enterprises that has obtained all the qualifications for elderly care services, has more than 10,000 operational beds, and has also run through the small closed loop of “elderly care + rehabilitation + outpatient services”. It has a lot of room for future expansion.； But there are also many veterans who feel that it is just a concept. After all, it has been in the ceramic tile business for more than 20 years, and it only started to transform into elderly care in 2019. So far, the revenue of the elderly care business has only accounted for just over 20%, and most of the income is still supported by the building materials business. Every time the concept is speculated in the sector, it rises fiercely, and there is no bottom when it falls. I lost a small 20,000 when I chased the high and entered the market last year, and it still hurts to think about it now.

Another target that is easily overlooked is Aojiahua. Many people’s impression of it is still as a massage chair brand. In fact, last year it installed home care monitoring equipment in more than 2,000 communities across the country, such as fall alarms for the elderly, portable heart rate monitoring bracelets, and remote monitoring of home hospital beds. Most of the systems are provided by it. This business grew by 60% last year. However, the company does not promote it to the outside world, so few people classify it as a leader in elderly health. The last time I went to the community to volunteer, I looked through its annual report when I saw the logo on the equipment.

In fact, the entire elderly health industry is still in its infancy, and the so-called "leaders" are also staged. For example, many people included Tomson By-Health in the past, thinking that its elderly health care products have the largest market share and can be considered a leader in the industry. However, there are many voices of opposition. They feel that health care products are not strictly needed, are not included in the scope of medical insurance support, and are not closely related to policy-oriented inclusive elderly care services. Whether it is considered a leader depends on your own investment logic. There is no standard answer.

I have invested in this track for so long, and my biggest feeling is that don’t just listen to research reports or what big V says is the leading one and just buy it blindly. If you really want to do research, go to the nursing home and community health service center near your home twice to see whose equipment they use and whose equipment they operate. Medicine, or even asking relatives who have elderly people at home, what brand of elderly products they usually buy is more reliable than reading ten gorgeous research reports. After all, the needs of this track are too close to the lives of ordinary people, and real user feedback is the most accurate criterion.