Baird on Monday upgraded Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) to Outperform from Neutral and increased its 12-month price target to $100.00, up from $78.00. The stock was trading near $79.57 at the time of the upgrade, close to its 52-week high of $82.80, reflecting rising investor optimism about the dental distributor's near-term prospects.
The upgrade rests on a set of survey-driven observations and recent company results. Baird's survey work indicated that North American patient volumes began to inch higher at the start of 2026, improving by roughly two percentage points relative to prior readings. That change moved patient volumes back toward flat to slight year-over-year growth after declines of about 2-3% in much of the back half of 2025.
Alongside volume trends, Baird noted that pricing for dental consumables in the U.S. market is up a couple of percentage points year over year and has strengthened by one to two points compared with the first half of 2025. The analyst firm views this pricing improvement as adding another point or two of growth tailwind for Henry Schein's U.S. dental consumables revenue for fourth-quarter 2025 and the first half of 2026.
Those inputs lead Baird to expect that Henry Schein can report stable to improved year-over-year performance for its U.S. dental consumables revenue in fourth-quarter 2025 versus third-quarter 2025. For context, the company recorded 3.3% year-over-year growth in U.S. consumables in third-quarter 2025.
More optimistically, Baird suggested that U.S. consumables growth could reach 5% or higher in the fourth quarter. The firm projects that modestly improving patient volumes and ongoing year-over-year pricing benefits through at least the first half of 2026 could support roughly 3-5% year-over-year growth for Henry Schein's U.S. consumables revenue over at least the next couple of quarters.
Separately noted in the firm's coverage and related company disclosures, Henry Schein's share metrics and valuation signals were highlighted. According to analysis referenced in the coverage, the company trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 25 and carries a PEG ratio of 0.78, figures the coverage described as consistent with an attractive valuation relative to forward growth prospects.
Henry Schein also disclosed an exclusive distribution agreement with CytoChip Inc. for the CitoCBC system, a cartridge-based Complete Blood Count device that has received a CLIA waiver from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The device is described as capable of delivering full CBC test results in approximately eight minutes.
On the leadership front, the company announced that Frederick M. Lowery will become CEO effective March 2, 2026, succeeding Stanley M. Bergman. Lowery is noted as having prior experience as Executive Vice President at Thermo Fisher Scientific. The company had previously signaled an intention to appoint a new chief executive by mid-January 2026, a plan that is now formalized with Lowery's appointment.
Governance and financing updates accompanied the operational and market commentary. Henry Schein said it will renominate Max Lin and William K. "Dan" Daniel, designees of KKR Hawaii Aggregator L.P., to its board for the 2026 term following an extension election under a Strategic Partnership Agreement with KKR. The company also amended several private placement shelf facilities - including arrangements with PGIM, Inc., NYL Investors LLC, and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company - to extend termination dates.
Overall, Baird's move to an Outperform rating and the higher price target reflect the firm's view that easing patient-volume pressure together with modest pricing gains in consumables can generate mid-single-digit year-over-year revenue growth for the U.S. consumables business in the near term. The firm is projecting that these headwinds-turned-tailwinds will help Henry Schein report at least stable sequential improvement in U.S. consumables revenue performance through fourth-quarter 2025 and into first-half 2026.
Note: The article summarizes analyst commentary, company appointments, and contractual developments disclosed by the company. Projections and expectations attributed to the analyst firm reflect its stated views and do not guarantee future results.