Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a marketing campaign occasion for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. November 1, 2024.
Joel Angel Juarez | Reuters
Dental care provider Henry Schein superior in Monday buying and selling as traders wager that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s decide for Well being and Human Companies secretary, might suggest eradicating fluoride from the U.S. water system, a transfer that might result in a growth in dental visits.
Shares of Henry Schein shares jumped about 7.5%, notching its greatest day since 2022. Fellow dental product makers Dentsply Sirona and Envista additionally rose within the session.
Monday’s strikes come as traders prepared for public well being modifications underneath a second Trump administration. Kennedy posted on X earlier than the presidential election this month {that a} “Trump White Home will advise all U.S. water techniques to take away fluoride from public water.”
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Fluoride has lengthy been proven as an efficient methodology for preventing cavities. However the mineral has discovered itself on the heart of a nationwide fight that is led some native communities to finish applications centered on its insertion into public water.
Whereas Kennedy will need to win Senate approval to take the job, market contributors are already zeroing in on a gaggle of shares that make dental hygiene merchandise as potential beneficiaries of his insurance policies. That is as a result of taking fluoride out of water would really put the tooth cleansing trade in larger demand as shoppers look elsewhere to struggle cavities, in line with agency Gordon Haskett.
A common view of the Henry Schein Inc. constructing a distributor of well being care services and products with a presence in 32 international locations, as photographed in Melville, New York.
Bruce Bennett | Getty Photographs
“The thought right here is RFK will carry to HHS a voice that’s in favor of decreasing, or eliminating, the quantity of fluoridation that’s added to ingesting water,” Don Bilson, Gordon Haskett’s head of event-driven analysis, advised purchasers in a Monday be aware. “This may, in flip, result in an acceleration of tooth decay and extra dental visits.”
Henry Schein shares took a leg up in afternoon buying and selling following a Reuters report that activist investor Ananym Capital was calling for changes on the firm. The newly launched agency, which is led by Charlie Penner and Alex Silver, believes the board needs to be shaken up and prices needs to be reduce, amongst different concepts.
Henry Schein and different shares within the area supply a vibrant spot inside a sector that has largely struggled because the election. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) has tumbled greater than 3% in November, placing it on observe for its first three-month dropping steak since final 12 months. By comparability, the broad S&P 500 has climbed greater than 3% within the month.
Gordon Haskett’s Bilson additionally identified that dental shares have been a number of the few “spared” health-focused equities as traders responded to the announcement of Kennedy’s nomination final week. Pharmaceutical names have been underneath stress given Kennedy’s status as a vaccine skeptic, whereas processed food stocks took successful as merchants equipped for elevated scrutiny of so-called junk meals.
“It prompted widespread promoting throughout the healthcare panorama,” Bilson mentioned of the choice to pick out Kennedy. “Drugmakers, contract analysis organizations, and well being insurers all felt the quake. Fairly than cease there, the harm spilled into packaged meals. And promoting.”
Whereas the market seems to be transferring on Kennedy’s nomination, Bilson mentioned that regulatory modifications would seemingly take years to come back into impact. He additionally famous that ingesting water ought to fall extra underneath the Environmental Safety Company than Well being and Human Companies.
