Is PROCEPT BioRobotics Stock Worth Holding?

We don’t have to inform our readers that it’s been robust to seek out many, if any, feel-good tales within the tech market. Primarily based on our risk-averse method to disruptive tech investing, we’ve been in a position to stave off the sort of losses extra aggressive funds have skilled over the past 12 months. That’s largely as a result of we’ve developed – and proceed to tweak – an goal methodology to why and after we spend money on an organization. 

Revisiting the Easy Valuation Ratio

One metric that we frequently point out concerning timing is our patent-pending easy valuation ratio. The maths is straightforward sufficient for an MBA to grasp: divide market cap by annualized revenues. The ensuing quantity – decrease equals higher – is a tough guideline as to how low cost or costly a inventory relies on the dimensions of an organization versus its income. A $1 billion firm with $50 million in income is a greater worth (20) than a $10 billion firm with $100 million in income (100), even when the latter is greater on paper and pulling in extra money general. This guideline helps us keep away from overpaying for a corporation regardless of how nice it seems to be on the skin.

We initially capped the quantity at 40, which meant we wouldn’t contact a inventory with a ratio greater than that. It was considerably arbitrary and labored properly in a bull market the place tech firms have been quickly rising each income and market cap. Nonetheless, final 12 months, a lot of these tech shares began buying and selling at cut price costs – many at single-digit ratios – with robust progress however considerably smaller market caps. Right here’s a snapshot of the richest tech firms, with a market cap of over one billion {dollars}, from the newest launch of our Disruptive Tech Inventory Catalog:

In response to the bear market which began at the start of 2022, we dropped our 40-point ceiling to twenty. It was in all probability at all times a bit too excessive anyway. However we by no means actually vetted our retooled metric. At this time, we’ll see how properly it displays actuality by revisiting PROCEPT BioRobotics (PRCT) inventory, a pure play in robotic surgical procedure that has crushed the chances by rising revenues 40% over the past 12 months. Whereas such short-term efficiency wouldn’t be obvious in short-term share worth efficiency (the inventory is now down practically 25% within the final month, for instance), the anomaly itself is motive to check-in on this firm, one in every of solely two robotic surgical procedure shares that we like.

About PROCEPT BioRobotics Inventory

We final coated PROCEPT BioRobotics inventory simply days earlier than the corporate IPO’d in September 2021. In that article, we did a deep dive into each man’s favourite matter – the prostate gland. You possibly can reread that article for the entire gory particulars, as a result of we’re going to maintain it temporary this go round. In abstract: When males get previous and fats, their prostates additionally develop bigger, typically inflicting a situation referred to as benign prostatic hyperplasia that entails a number of journeys to the bathroom. It’s the identical feeling you get in your bladder after slamming 5 beers earlier than the faucets are shut off on the seventh inning of a ballgame – however on a regular basis. Medicine and surgical procedure may help, however not everybody responds to the previous and the latter could cause all types of mechanical issues.

Enter the AquaBeam Robotic System from PROCEPT BioRobotics on your unruly urologic issues. The surgical robotic system is best than the alternate options, in response to 9 scientific research and greater than 100 peer-reviewed publications on the platform. It seems to be like advertising and marketing gurus are making the case to each traders and prospects. The California-based firm shot out of the gate by opening 40% above its up-sized IPO worth in September 2021, elevating practically $164 million. It then promptly cratered in January 2022 earlier than steadily climbing again up for a lot of the 12 months when nearly all of tech shares headed south. Extra just lately, PROCEPT BioRobotics inventory is once more on the decline for causes we are able to actually fathom, for the reason that firm simply introduced its preliminary 2022 revenues, which grew 117% in comparison with final 12 months. What’s behind the current pullback? 

Market Evaluation for Urologic Robotic Surgical procedure

The primary factor we need to consider and problem in our evaluation of PROCEPT BioRobotics inventory is the total addressable market (TAM). The corporate has not revised its TAM since at the least 2020, estimating a chance of greater than $20 billion. It’s vital to notice that the determine solely consists of the price of the AquaBeam Robotic System’s single-use handpiece, which was promoting for a mean of $3,100 per surgical procedure as of Q3-2022. That’s a reasonably good method to benchmark the TAM on consumables alone, as a result of there’s actually going to be an higher restrict on gross sales of the robotic system itself. Primarily based on estimated This fall-2022 income of about $10.5 million on the sale of 28 AquaBeam Robotic Techniques, every unit prices about $375,000 every.

So how did PROCEPT BioRobotics give you a $20 billion TAM? That determine relies on a complete addressable affected person inhabitants in america of 8.2 million males, together with 6.7 million who’re receiving drug remedy, 1.1 million who’ve tried however failed drug remedy and 400,000 who’re present process surgical intervention every year. Primarily based on these numbers, the common promoting worth of a single-use handpiece was presumably about $2,500 on the time when the corporate’s MBAs calculated the market alternative. The revised TAM, utilizing the $3,100 present worth, is extra like $25 billion.

However let’s problem a few of these assumptions. The corporate says its speedy focus is on resective surgical therapies that contain eradicating a small little bit of the prostate utilizing a heat-free waterjet. Finally, administration says it should compete with non-resective and non-surgical therapies like medication. Within the mid-term, we might argue {that a} extra real looking goal inhabitants is about 1.5 million – drug dropouts and surgical procedures – leading to a TAM underneath $5 billion primarily based on the present consumables worth. 

As well as, the PROCEPT gross sales power is initially making its pitch to 860 high-volume hospitals that common about 200 resective procedures yearly, accounting for one thing like 70% of all hospital-based resective procedures. Some extra back-of-the-napkin math (860 hospitals X 200 procedures = 170,000 process / .7) provides us a complete of 245,000 resective surgical procedures per 12 months, which just about aligns with PROCEPT’s estimates. At $3,100 a pop, that works out to be $760 million yearly. That’s in all probability a reasonably real looking near-term market alternative. 

Ought to You Purchase PROCEPT BioRobotics Inventory?

Earlier than we slyly skirt the standard query, let’s shut the loop on our little mathematical train: The finance guys at PROCEPT simply launched estimated whole 2022 revenues of $75 million, with consumables accounting for practically 50% (primarily based on current historic developments), or about $37.5 million. So, surgeons carried out about 5% of all resective procedures (37.5 / 760) in 2022 utilizing PROCEPT’s robotic surgical procedure system. The corporate has put in 167 techniques in america (236 globally), in order that’s practically 20% of its goal high-volume hospitals, although in all probability a couple of items ended up elsewhere.

In different phrases, there’s loads of room to run within the close to time period, even when we’re unsure about a number of the larger market alternatives on the horizon. There are additionally some imprecise guarantees about future purposes with the AquaBeam Robotic System, although presently that’s in all probability not value contemplating. Nor are we evaluating PROCEPT BioRobotics inventory on its worldwide publicity, which is projected to be simply $2 million in This fall-2022, representing lower than 10% of This fall-2022 revenues of between $23.6 million and $23.8 million.

What does matter to us – since we do like the corporate for its enterprise mannequin and income progress – is that if it’s pretty valued. Right here’s the place we get again to our easy valuation ratio, which for PROCEPT BioRobotics is 15 primarily based on its market cap of $1.45 billion and annualized revenues of $95 million utilizing the newest quarterly outcomes. Within the earlier bull market 40-point ceiling, that might put us someplace within the center. A rating of 15 is cheap, however trending towards the excessive finish primarily based on the brand new 20-point ceiling. Whereas it could seem to be we’re simply transferring the goalposts to justify a conclusion, we have now to keep in mind that the market is dynamic. If the mannequin doesn’t symbolize actuality, it’s essential modify your mannequin.

Conclusion

The newest slide in PROCEPT BioRobotics inventory might mirror the dawning recognition from different traders that maybe the share worth is a bit too wealthy. In spite of everything, the corporate’s speedy market is lower than $1 billion, in response to our math. The present progress in income is spectacular however is it sustainable, particularly with many hospitals in monetary bother? As well as, losses are mounting, although the corporate had about $250 million in money on the finish of September 2022, so it will possibly proceed to burn cash for some time (losses over the previous 4 quarters averaged $20 million). One measure of progress for retail traders will probably be gross margin, which stands round 50%. That ought to enhance as consumables account for extra income over time. 

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