Feb 25 (Reuters) - Shares of Hims & Hers Health HIMS.N tumbled 18% premarket on Tuesday as Wall Street analysts questioned the telehealth provider's lofty sales forecast in the face of looming restrictions on compounded weight-loss drugs.
Telehealth providers like Hims & Hers, which benefited from selling cheaper copies of NOVOb.CO weight loss drug Wegovy, are now expected to struggle after the original versions were removed from the shortage list on Friday.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Hims & Hers said it cannot guarantee that it will "be able to continue offering these products in the same manner, to the same extent, or at all".
However, it forecast sales of $725 million from its weight-loss business in 2025, and said it expected to keep offering "personalized" compounded drugs and generic versions of an older Novo Nordisk drug.
"We are less sanguine," said Citi analyst Daniel Grosslight, noting that the forecast assumed the company's other weight loss options would see a rapid acceleration in sales.
Shares of Hims & Hers fell 18% to $42.36 premarket. The company's stock more than doubled last year amid booming demand for its compounded weight loss drug, but lost a quarter of its value on Friday after Wegovy was removed from the shortage list.
Separately on Monday, drug compounders sued the Food and Drug Administration over its decision to remove Novo's drugs from its shortage list, a lawsuit similar to the one filed against the agency over its removal of tirzepatide.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
((Christy.Santhosh@thomsonreuters.com;))
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