Bank of America Securities (BofA) on Monday downgraded Doximity Inc. (NYSE:DOCS), citing limited clarity on the trajectory of revenue/margins.
During its latest fiscal year, Doximity reported mixed results for the fourth quarter and issued soft annual guidance.
The company in an investor call said, “With short-term demand in the HCP Digital Pharma ad market soft and visibility still limited. This market environment is the result of policy uncertainty remaining elevated and increased macro risk.”
“Taken together, we expect overall market growth to be modest this year, likely at or below 5%, consistent with broader industry trends.”
BofA Flags Risks Tied To Doximity’s AI Strategy
BofA analyst Allen Lutz also highlighted the execution risks related to the pivot to AI, and said Doximity remains the leader in physician-targeted pharma advertising, supported by products such as its newsfeed, telehealth platform, and AI assistant, DoxGPT.
The firm believes Doximity is making appropriate strategic investments to compete with emerging AI players like OpenAI and OpenEvidence.
However, BofA expressed concerns about Doximity’s ability to expand spending from existing pharma clients and capture additional AI-related budgets, given the strong financial resources of competitors and the already significant spending by top pharma companies on the platform.
Analyst Downgrades Doximity Cites Pricing Pressure
BofA analyst downgraded the stock from Buy to Underperform with a price forecast of $20 from $38.
With native AI competitors continuing to invest aggressively, Doximity’s reinvestment cycle could be longer and more intensive than previously expected, the analyst said in a Monday investor note.
The analyst added that Doximity’s reliance on frontier model providers may put it at a disadvantage on AI-related costs. Doximity may also need to lower pricing to support growth, creating structural pressure on its industry-leading margins.
DOCS Stock Price Activity: Doximity shares were down 2.80% at $20.29 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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