After a few years of experimenting with its own employees, it appears Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is closing down its telehealth service, Amazon Care, by the end of 2022. Though the U.S. spends over $4 trillion a year on healthcare, disrupting this massive sector of the economy is incredibly difficult. For example, Amazon has already had other failures in this space -- like healthcare start-up Haven, which was also backed by JPMorgan Chase and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway .
With Care closing, it appears Amazon will attempt a different angle. It's still in the process of acquiring 1Life Healthcare (NASDAQ: ONEM) , the parent company of primary care clinic chain One Medical. Amazon is also reportedly interested in bidding on analytics and healthcare payments platform provider Signify Health . Amid this suddenly convoluted strategy to retool at Amazon, telehealth leader Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC) is beaten up but still standing. Is it time to buy Teladoc?
I must first confess I was wrong about Teladoc, at least in the last year or two. I bought my first batch of shares back in 2017 and was pleased for a few years that I had gotten in early in a compelling growth story within the healthcare technology space. Then 2020 happened and virtual at-home care suddenly went mainstream. Teladoc stock exploded higher, and then it used its strength to acquire digital chronic care company Livongo Health. I applauded the deal, but it's been all downhill since then. Teladoc realized a $3 billion goodwill impairment charge in Q2 2022 associated with the acquisition. In other words, Teladoc overpaid for Livongo.
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Amazon's Shuttering Its Care Service. Is It Time to Buy Teladoc Stock?