Long gone are the days when Teladoc Health (TDOC +0.30%) was a market darling. During the height of the pandemic, the company’s business soared, sending its revenue and stock price to incredible highs. However, the telemedicine specialist was unable to sustain the momentum, and over the past five years, the stock has lost more than 90% of its value. At current levels, Teladoc could deliver incredible returns over the next decade, provided it can reestablish itself as a dominant force in the telemedicine market and significantly improve its financial results. How likely is the company to pull that off and make its shareholders millionaires through 2036? Let’s find out.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
What’s going on with Teladoc?
Teladoc’s financial results have been subpar for the past few years. Take the company’s first quarter update. Revenue dropped 2% year over year to $613.8 million. The telemedicine specialist improved on the bottom line, posting a net loss per share of $0.36, much better than the loss per share of $0.53 reported in the year-ago period. However, in the first quarter of 2025, Teladoc reported a significant goodwill impairment charge, which hurt the bottom line. The point here is that Teladoc remains unprofitable, and it isn’t clear that things are substantially improving organically.
Teladoc’s BetterHelp virtual therapy segment, once an important growth driver, has been declining for years. During the period, BetterHelp’s revenue and paying users both dropped by 9% year over year. One bright spot in Teladoc’s financial results is its international expansion efforts. The company’s international revenue during the period jumped 17% year over year to $122.3 million. But overall, Teladoc isn’t performing well. The company faces significant competition in the telemedicine market from new entrants and from existing medical networks with deep ecosystems that have built their own virtual health platforms. The return to in-person care was also a challenge for Teladoc.
A millionaire-maker stock?
Turning $50,000 into $1 million in a decade takes a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35%. Even with a starting capital of $100,000, investors would still need a CAGR of 26%. Returns of this caliber are miles above what broader equities typically deliver over similar periods. Can a struggling company like Teladoc really pull that off? It’s worth emphasizing that the company has made some progress. BetterHelp now takes health insurance in some states, which could help reverse the segment’s recent misfortunes. Teladoc estimates that insurance-covered BetterHelp sessions have an annualized run rate of $75 million and plans to reach at least $125 million by the end of the year.
Today’s Change
(0.30%) $0.02
Current Price
$6.59
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$1.2B
Day’s Range
$6.55 – $6.82
52wk Range
$4.40 – $9.77
Volume
3.9M
Avg Vol
5M
Gross Margin
54.63%
Meanwhile, Teladoc’s continued international expansions could lift the company’s top-line as it accounts for a larger percentage of revenue. Further, Teladoc is also leaning on artificial intelligence (AI) and plans to introduce a range of AI products and tools on its platform to boost revenue. In my view, these initiatives won’t be enough for the company to recover from its woes, let alone deliver the returns it needs to turn investors into millionaires in the next decade. For one, although insurance coverage for BetterHelp was an important step, the virtual health platform faced headwinds beyond a lack of coverage for its clients.
It will help somewhat, but it won’t make the competition — some of which also has insurance — go away. Second, although international revenue is growing at a good clip, the company’s strategy here could run into significant problems down the line. Between varying regulatory rules that govern things like prescription and many more aspects of healthcare it offers through its platform — as well as uneven coverage from one country to the next — Teladoc will likely have to spend a good deal of time and money on its international business to turn it into a meaningful profit driver.
Maybe the company can do it, but given its consistent net losses and track record over the past few years, it wouldn’t be wise to bet on it. We could say the same about Teladoc’s AI-powered tools. It may be a promising avenue for the company, but it remains unproven. The bottom line is that Teladoc’s future is highly uncertain. It’s not clear that the company can stop the bleeding anytime soon, let alone perform well enough to make investors millionaires by 2036. It’s best to avoid the stock for now.