For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 21, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares Hims & Hers Health HIMS as the Bull of the Day and AST SpaceMobile ASTS as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NVIDIA Corp. NVDA, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Hims & Hers Health has emerged as a disruptive force in telehealth, leveraging technology and personalization to address highly-personal health conditions while achieving scalable profitability.

HIMS (for short) is a significant player in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) telehealth industry, offering personalized healthcare solutions that encompass mental health, sexual wellness, dermatology, and chronic condition management -- some of which have been stigmatized and kept people from seeking solutions.

With a robust subscription-based model and a focus on accessibility, the company has demonstrated notable growth and resilience in a competitive landscape.

HIMS' vertically-integrated platform, combining telehealth consultations, diagnostics, and pharmacy services, positions it to capitalize on the $100+ billion telehealth market while expanding into adjacent healthcare sectors.

In my Zacks Healthcare Innovators portfolio, we took a chance on this young company in August under $15. And the herd caught on in the new year, giving us a surge above $60 where were able to harvest a gain of 220% during that volatility spike.

We are long again and targeting an eventual return in the next 12-18 months to at least $50.

2024 Was Great, 2025 Gets Better

On February 24, HIMS reported its Q4 and full-year results.

Revenue of $1.5 billion was up 69% year-over-year in 2024. Revenue excluding their GLP-1 offering increased 43% year-over-year to over $1.2 billion in 2024, meeting the company's previous 2025 revenue target a year early.

Subscribers grew to 2.2 million, up 45% year-over-year in 2024.

Net income of $126 million and adjusted EBITDA of $177 million in 2024.

HIMS provided full year 2025 guidance, with revenue in the range of $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion -- representing nearly 60% annual growth at the midpoint -- and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $270 million to $320 million.

This outlook prompted analysts to boost their estimates in the past few weeks, moving HIMS to a Zacks #2 Rank as the Zacks EPS Consensus among eight analysts jumped 38% from 52-cents to 72-cents -- representing explosive profit growth of 167%!

Let's look through three windows on the fundamental outlook for HIMS.

1) Core Revenue Streams

The company's primary revenue driver is its subscription-based model, accounting for over 90% of total revenue. As of Q4 2024, Hims & Hers reported 2.2 million subscribers, a 45% increase year-over-year. The average monthly online revenue per subscriber reached $73, reflecting 24% y-o-y growth.

The company operates five primary verticals:

Sexual Health: Treatments for erectile dysfunction and hair loss (30% of revenue)

Mental Health: Therapy and anxiety/depression medications (25%)

Dermatology: Acne and skincare solutions (20%)

Weight Management: Compounded GLP-1 therapies and metabolic health programs ($725M projected 2025 revenue). This has been the primary concern for investors with HIMS as the GLP-1 weight loss space is filled with volatility due to competition and falling margins.

Primary Care: Expanding into chronic condition management

Revenue grew 69% YoY to $1.5B in 2024, with subscriptions (82% retention at 3+ months) driving predictable cash flow. The 2025 guidance of $2.3B-$2.4B revenue reflects 59% growth at the midpoint, emphasizing margin expansion over GLP-1 volume.

2) Margin Profile & Unit Economics

Hims & Hers achieved profitability in 2024 with $126M net income and $177M adjusted EBITDA (11.8% margin). 2025 guidance suggests further margin improvement to 12.6% at the midpoint ($270M-$320M EBITDA), fueled by:

Operational leverage: 45% subscriber growth to 2.2M with 33% higher annual revenue per customer ($668 vs. $495)

Vertical integration: Recent acquisitions of Trybe Labs (diagnostics) and a peptide manufacturing facility reduce reliance on third-party suppliers

Automation: AI-powered MedMatch system analyzes 50M+ data points to optimize treatment plans, reducing provider workload

Customer acquisition costs rose to $929 in 2024 but remain justified by 85% retention rates and $198M free cash flow.

Overall, Hims & Hers maintains strong financial metrics, with gross margins consistently between 80-83% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 11-12%. The net profit margin improved to 4% in 2024, indicating efficient operational management. The company's return on invested capital (ROIC) stands at an impressive 88.9%, and the payback period for customer acquisition costs is typically under a year, underscoring the effectiveness of its business model.???

3) Unique Marketing Edge: Hip Channels & Creative Acquisition

Hims & Hers employs a sophisticated marketing strategy, heavily investing in digital advertising across platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which account for a significant portion of their marketing spend.

The company utilizes a proprietary customer segmentation algorithm with a 93% targeting accuracy, enhancing the efficiency of its marketing campaigns. Referral programs and personalized communication strategies further bolster customer engagement and retention.???

HIMS deploys a $150M annual marketing budget across 3 strategies...

Micro-Influencers: 1,200+ nano/mid-tier creators driving 35% of conversions through relatable content

Brand Campaigns: Super Bowl ads and billboards normalize conversations about sensitive health issues

Algorithmic Targeting: Proprietary AI matches ad creative to high-intent audiences, achieving 6:1 ROAS (return on ad spend) which is very strong.

This approach enables cost-effective scaling in a sector where traditional healthcare providers spend 2-3x more per acquisition.

Adapting to the Market

The global telehealth market is projected to reach over $250 billion by 2030, driven by increasing demand for virtual healthcare services. Hims & Hers' focus on areas like mental health, sexual wellness, and chronic condition management positions it to capture a significant share of this expanding market.

The company's foray into compounded GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, such as semaglutide, contributed to substantial revenue growth in 2024. However, recent FDA regulations ending the shortage status of these drugs have mandated the cessation of their compounded versions, posing a challenge to this revenue stream. Hims & Hers is adapting by focusing on personalized dosing models and diversifying its product portfolio to mitigate this impact.

Bottom line: Given these challenges, HIMS is still expecting explosive growth in their core businesses as they serve changing health-consumer preferences. The stock is a buy under $30 as it trades under 2.5x forward sales estimates.

Bear of the Day:

AST SpaceMobile is a $7.4 billion provider of specialized communications satellites that offer cellular broadband connectivity directly to unmodified cell phones from space.

The company claims they are building the world's first and only global cellular broadband network in space, accessible directly by standard smartphones (4G-LTE/5G devices) for commercial and government use, leveraging its extensive Intellectual Property and patent portfolio.

The SpaceMobile Service is currently planned to be provided by a constellation of high-powered, large phased-array satellites in low Earth orbit ("LEO") using low-band and mid-band spectrums controlled by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in areas lacking terrestrial network coverage.

5 BlueBirds Take Flight and Give Lift to Sales

Last year the company announced the successful deployment of its initial set of five commercial satellites, BlueBirds. Utilizing large phased array antennas, AST SpaceMobile's technology is backed by more than 3,450 patents and patent-pending claims. By connecting directly to standard smartphones at broadband speeds, these advanced phased arrays eliminate the need for special equipment.

From the AST SpaceMobile website...

These first five satellites are built on the success of our in-orbit BlueWalker 3 satellite and will provide U.S. nationwide non-continuous service with over 5,600 cells in premium low-band spectrum, with a planned 10-fold increase in processing bandwidth.

Obviously, the young upstart competes with the giant SpaceX Starlink system. But it has grown impressively fast since launching its first satellite six years ago and going public in 2021.

This year's projected sales growth sees a massive leap of over 1,200% from $4.4 million to $59 million.

And for next year, the consensus among 3 analysts is for the topline to jump another 370% to over $275 million.

This makes the stock trade in price-to-sales terms for 125X this year and "only" 27X next year.

The Profit Outlook

But a lofty P/S valuation is not the reason that ASTS is a Zacks #5 Rank.

ASTS fell into the cellar of the Zacks Rank in March after their Q4 report, which saw the company beat modestly on earnings but miss fairly big on revenues of $1.92 million, which missed the consensus estimate of $3 million.

Net loss in the reported quarter was $35.9 million or a loss of 18 cents per share compared with a net loss of $31.9 million or a loss of 35 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The company reported a non-GAAP net loss of 12 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 cents.

For 2024, net loss was $300.1 million or a loss of $1.94 per share compared with a net loss of $87.6 million or a loss of 1.07 cents per share in 2023.

In response to this report, analysts took the 2025 EPS consensus down 12% from a loss of 66-cents to -$0.74. And 90 days ago, the projected loss for this year was only 45-cents.

Bottom line: ASTS appears to have a fast growth trajectory ahead of it as the company grabs new satellite market opportunities. If the estimate picture can stabilize, and analysts have more visibility, there will be a buy opportunity soon. The Zacks Rank will let you know.

Additional content:

Why NVIDIA Stock Remains a Good Buy Despite Setbacks

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), NVIDIA Corp. saw its shares climb northward in the last couple of years. However, the NVIDIA stock has faced volatility this year due to trade tensions and new chip export restrictions to China. So, should investors avoid or buy the NVIDIA stock now? Let's delve in –

Nvidia Faces New China Export Restrictions

NVIDIA's data center revenues may take a hit in the upcoming quarters after the U.S. government told the semiconductor behemoth that it would need a federal export license to sell its H20 chips to China. NVIDIA is not optimistic about getting the license soon and expects a $5.5 billion charge in its fiscal first quarter. After all, H20 chips are expected to account for 12% to 13% of NVIDIA's data center revenues this month.

Tightening exports is of concern to NVIDIA, but it's not new to them. Earlier, the Biden administration prevented NVIDIA's advanced chips from going to China to limit their AI capabilities. DeepSeek, a Chinese company, used H20 chips for a cost-effective chatbot. NVIDIA, despite such roadblocks, showed positive results, and its long-term outlook remains positive.

Reasons to Be Bullish on NVIDIA Stock

Let's admit, despite the H20 fiasco, the chip is less powerful than NVIDIA's advanced chips and is in less demand. In reality, the demand for the new-generation cutting-edge Blackwell chips has surged, and their shipments are increasing day by day.

But it's not only the high demand for Blackwell chips but also the increasing popularity of the CUDA software platform among developers that is expected to improve NVIDIA's quarterly performance. The Jensen Huang-led company enjoys a competitive advantage in the graphics processing units (GPUs) market, with more than 80% share. This wide moat will help the company sustain broader market vagaries (read more: 2 Wide Moat Semiconductor Stocks a Bargain Buy Now: ASML and NVDA).

Big cloud computing companies like Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. are now spending billions of dollars on AI data center infrastructure, which should benefit NVIDIA in the long run. Cloud computing companies are buying GPUs to enhance computing power for AI workloads.

NVIDIA Stock to Buy Hand Over Fist

Despite the initial disruptions from new export restrictions, NVIDIA's long-term outlook is promising due to high demand for its latest chips, growing GPU acceptance, and increasing AI data center spending.

NVIDIA, thus, remains an enticing buy with brokers increasing NVDA's average short-term price target by 54.8% to $173.63 from the previous $112.20. The highest short-term price target is set at $220, indicating an upside of 96.1%.

Moreover, buying the NVIDIA stock won't burn a bigger hole in your wallet than its competitors. This is because NVIDIA's forward price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.72 is lower than the Semiconductor - General industry's 28.7X.

Furthermore, NVIDIA's 10.7% debt-to-equity ratio is lower than the industry's average of 20.1%, which reduces investment risk. This positions NVIDIA as a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) currently. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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