HealthStream
HSTM Small CapHealthcare · Health Information Services
Updated: Jul 6, 2026, 22:20 UTC
Price Chart
Key Metrics
Valuation Analysis
About the Company
HealthStream, Inc. provides Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based applications for healthcare organizations in the United States. The company offers hStream, a technology platform; CredentialStream, provides healthcare organizations with tools to support the provider lifecycle management from recruiting, application submission, verification of licensure and other credentials, privileging, appointments by credentialing committees, enrollment, network, management, onboarding, and performance evaluations of providers; ShiftWizard; and Competency Suite, AI/ML-driven clinical competency development system. It also provides applications for performance appraisal, competency management, disclosure management, clinical competency, assessment, development, simulation-based education, clinical rotation
HealthStream Stock at a Glance
HealthStream (HSTM) is currently trading at $29.07 with a market capitalization of $849.3M. The trailing P/E ratio stands at 43.39x, with a forward P/E of 33.61x. The 52-week range spans from $19.50 to $29.63; the current price is 1.9% below the yearly high. Year-over-year revenue growth stands at +10.5%. The net profit margin stands at 6.39%.
💰 Dividend
HealthStream pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share, representing a yield of 0.45%. The payout ratio stands at 19.1%.
📊 Analyst Rating
2 analysts rate HealthStream (HSTM) on consensus: Buy. The average price target is $32.00, implying +10.08% from the current price. Analyst price targets range from $24.00 to $40.00.
HealthStream: The Investment Case in Detail
HealthStream (HSTM) operates in the Healthcare — specifically Health Information Services — and is headquartered in United States. Below is a structured read of the investment case built directly from the latest fundamentals, valuation multiples, analyst positioning and smart-money flows. Each section translates raw numbers into the investment logic they imply, so you can decide whether the risk/reward fits your portfolio.
The Bull Case
Revenue is growing at a healthy 10.5% pace year-over-year, suggesting the business model continues to find new customers and pricing power. Earnings growth of 42.9% is outpacing revenue, a sign of operational leverage — fixed costs are being absorbed across a larger base. With a gross margin near 64.89%, the company sits in the top tier of its industry — these are the kinds of structural margins that protect earnings during downturns.
The Bear Case
Our valuation screen flags the stock as overvalued — current multiples imply the business needs to deliver well above its recent trajectory to justify the price.
Valuation in Context
At a PEG of 3.31, investors are paying more than three times the growth rate for each unit of earnings — that pricing assumes growth not only continues but accelerates from here.
What to Watch Next
- The forward P/E of 33.61x is meaningfully below the trailing 43.39x — analysts expect earnings to step up; the next earnings release is the test.
- The share is trading at 94.5% of its 52-week range — a break above the recent high opens technical upside, a failure here often invites profit-taking.
Investment Thesis: Strengths & Weaknesses
- High gross margin of 64.89% — indicates pricing power
- Analyst consensus: Buy
- Solid balance sheet with low debt (D/E 4)
- Positive free cash flow
- –Currently flagged as overvalued
Technical Snapshot
Price trades above both the 50- and 200-day moving averages, with 50d above 200d — a classic bullish setup (golden-cross alignment).
Risk Profile
The data points to relatively defensive market behavior.
Trading Data
💵 Dividend Info
Related Stocks in the Same Sector
HealthStream (HSTM) 2026: 22,70 USD US Healthcare-Workforce SaaS Specialist with hStream Platform, CredentialStream Recurring-Revenue Compounder Profile and Defensive Quality Setup
The Real Story
HealthStream Inc. (NASDAQ: HSTM) is a Nashville, Tennessee-headquartered SaaS-based-applications-for-healthcare-organizations specialist providing workforce-development, credentialing, learning-management, and competency-assessment solutions. Lead platforms: hStream technology platform; CredentialStream healthcare-organization credentialing-workflow; StaffStream nurse-and-clinician scheduling; LearningStream compliance-and-CME-learning-management. Customer base approximately 5.000 US healthcare-organizations including 75 percent of US-hospitals.
Structural-thesis: US healthcare-labor-shortages plus regulatory-credentialing requirements support continued recurring-SaaS revenue growth approximately 8-12 percent annually with high net-revenue-retention.
What Smart Money Thinks
HealthStream has founder-aligned base. Founder Robert Frist directly and via affiliated entities holds approximately 11 percent — founder-anchor since founding 1990. BlackRock at approximately 11,2 percent, Vanguard at approximately 9,8 percent. Short-interest sits at approximately 2,8 percent of float as of May 2026 — very low, reflecting defensive narrative.
Explore the BMI Smart-Money Tracker →
📈 The 3 Real Bull Points
90 percent recurring-SaaS revenue plus 75 percent US-hospital customer-base provides structurally defensive cash-flow base. Net-revenue-retention approximately 105-110 percent supports continued growth even without new-customer-additions.
US healthcare-labor shortages plus regulatory-credentialing complexity (state-licensing, federal-compliance, hospital-quality-reporting) drive sustained HealthStream demand. Each new regulatory-requirement creates incremental subscription-and-feature opportunity.
Forward-P/E 26x is fair-value for high-quality-healthcare-SaaS quality profile. Annual EPS-compounding 12-15 percent supports steady share-price-appreciation through 2027-2028.
📉 The 3 Real Bear Points
Continued US-hospital-and-health-system M&A consolidation reduces independent-customer-count. If consolidation accelerates, HealthStream addressable-market-trajectory could compress.
Generative-AI-tools could disrupt traditional learning-management-and-compliance-training-content delivery. If AI-disrupters compress healthcare-LMS-pricing-power, HealthStream margin-trajectory could compress.
HealthStream's customer-base is approximately 99 percent US healthcare-organizations with limited international-expansion strategy. International-TAM-capture is not in current growth-strategy.
Valuation in Context
HealthStream at 22,70 USD per share with approximately 29,2 million shares outstanding has a market capitalization of approximately 663 million USD. With approximately 75 million USD net-cash, enterprise value approximately 588 million USD against trailing-twelve-month revenue approximately 290 million USD (2,0x EV/sales).
On forward-earnings, HSTM trades at approximately 26x consensus fiscal-2026 EPS approximately 0,87 USD. Applying peer-blended fair-multiple of 24-28x to fiscal-2027 EPS approximately 1,00 USD produces fair-value range 24-28 USD per share — 6-23 percent upside. Bear-case 16-19 USD. Bull-case 32-38 USD over 24-36 months. 0,57 percent dividend.
🗓️ Next 3 Catalyst Dates
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2026 Q3:
Q2 2026 earnings. Watch-items: recurring-SaaS revenue growth, net-revenue-retention, CredentialStream cross-sell.
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2027 Q1:
Fiscal-2026 full-year results plus fiscal-2027 guidance.
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2027 H2:
Continued US-healthcare-workforce-cycle progression.
💬 Daniel's Take
HealthStream is a defensive-quality US healthcare-workforce-SaaS specialist with 90 percent recurring-revenue, 75 percent US-hospital-customer-base, founder Robert Frist anchor and 26x forward earnings fair-value compounder profile. Position-sizing: 0,8–1,5 percent in defensive-quality-tech sleeve.
Sources (3)
Disclaimer: This article is not investment advice. Investing in stocks carries risks, including total loss.
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