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HealthStream

HSTM Small Cap

Healthcare · Health Information Services

Updated: May 22, 2026, 22:06 UTC

$23.81
+0.59% today
52W: $19.50 – $29.63
52W Low: $19.50 Position: 42.5% 52W High: $29.63

Key Metrics

P/E Ratio
35.54x
Price-to-Earnings
Forward P/E
27.53x
Forward Price/Earnings
P/S Ratio
2.23x
Price-to-Sales
EV/EBITDA
15.2x
Enterprise Value/EBITDA
Div. Yield
0.55%
Annual dividend yield
Market Cap
$695.6M
Market Capitalization
Revenue Growth
10.5%
YoY Revenue Growth
Profit Margin
6.39%
Net profit margin
ROE
5.57%
Return on Equity
Beta
0.41
Market sensitivity
Short Interest
5.05%
% of float sold short
Avg. Volume
294,866
Average daily volume

Valuation Analysis

Signal
Overvalued
vs. S&P 500 avg P/E (24.7x)
Analyst Consensus
Buy
2 analysts
Avg. Price Target
$32.00
+34.4% upside
Target Range
$24.00 – $40.00

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

Sector: Healthcare Industry: Health Information Services Country: United States Employees: 1,139 Exchange: NMS

HealthStream Stock at a Glance

HealthStream (HSTM) is currently trading at $23.81 with a market capitalization of $695.6M. The trailing P/E ratio stands at 35.54x, with a forward P/E of 27.53x. The 52-week range spans from $19.50 to $29.63; the current price is 19.6% 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 0.55%. 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 +34.4% from the current price. Analyst price targets range from $24.00 to $40.00.

Investment Thesis: Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths
  • 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
Weaknesses
  • Currently flagged as overvalued

Technical Snapshot

50-Day MA
$21.55
+10.49% vs. price
200-Day MA
$23.91
-0.42% vs. price
Below 52W High
−19.6%
$29.63
Above 52W Low
+22.1%
$19.50

The price is in a transition zone relative to the moving averages — no clear signal.

Risk Profile

Market Risk (Beta)
0.41 · Defensive
Moves less than the overall market
Short Interest
5.05% · Elevated
% of float sold short
Debt-to-Equity
4 · Low
Total debt / equity

The data points to relatively defensive market behavior, elevated short interest (5.05%).

Trading Data

50-Day MA: $21.55
200-Day MA: $23.91
Volume: 220,776
Avg. Volume: 294,866
Short Ratio: 5.26
P/B Ratio: 1.98x
Debt/Equity: 4x
Free Cash Flow: $49.8M

💵 Dividend Info

Dividend Yield
0.55%
Annual Rate
$0.13
Payout Ratio
19.1%

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

#1 Approximately 90 percent recurring-SaaS revenue plus 75 percent US-hospital customer-base provides defensive compounder profile

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.

#2 US healthcare-labor shortage plus credentialing regulatory complexity supports structural demand growth

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.

#3 Forward-P/E 26x is fair-value for high-quality healthcare SaaS — re-rating limited but compounding supports steady upside

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

#1 Hospital-and-health-system M&A consolidation may compress addressable customer-count

Continued US-hospital-and-health-system M&A consolidation reduces independent-customer-count. If consolidation accelerates, HealthStream addressable-market-trajectory could compress.

#2 AI-disruption risk to learning-management-and-compliance training segment

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.

#3 Limited international-expansion capacity caps long-duration TAM

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

  1. 2026 Q3:

    Q2 2026 earnings. Watch-items: recurring-SaaS revenue growth, net-revenue-retention, CredentialStream cross-sell.

  2. 2027 Q1:

    Fiscal-2026 full-year results plus fiscal-2027 guidance.

  3. 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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