J.P. Morgan has placed Fresenius SE at the top of its list among European medtech companies after a sector-wide correction depressed multiples to rare lows, the brokerage said in a note dated Friday.
The Frankfurt-listed healthcare group was trading at 46.49 at the time of the note. J.P. Morgan calculates a 12-month fair value in the "mid to high 50s," which translates into an implied upside of roughly 15-25% from the then-current price. The firm assigned an "overweight" rating to Fresenius SE.
To underpin its valuation work, J.P. Morgan uses core earnings per share projections of 3.11 for 2026 and 3.32 for 2027, applying price-to-earnings multiples in the range of 15x to 18x. Those assumptions form the basis for the mid-to-high 50s fair value cited by the brokerage.
The analysts said the recent decline in Fresenius shares reflected de-grossing activity rather than any fundamental revision to the companys outlook. J.P. Morgan highlighted that Fresenius remains a name where management is expected to deliver another year of beating expectations and raising guidance, while the stock continues to trade on what the firm describes as an attractive multiple.
Drivers of the bull case
J.P. Morgans positive view centers on Kabi, Freseniuss nutrition and pharmaceutical division. The brokerage projects Kabi revenue growth in the high single-digit range for the first quarter of 2026, versus consensus expectation of roughly 6.5%. The note also allows for an "outside chance" of low double-digit growth in that quarter after Kabi posted 10% growth in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Biopharma is flagged by J.P. Morgan as a near-term upside catalyst. The segment delivered 97% year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, the strongest quarterly rate since the second quarter of 2024. That surge was attributed to new product launches and the initial shipments of ustekinumab under the CivicaScript agreement that closed in December.
Management indicated the possibility of flat sequential biopharma revenue in the first quarter of 2026, which J.P. Morgan noted would still equate to more than 50% year-on-year growth.
Additionally, Fresenius has moved to report earnings per share excluding Fresenius Medical Care. J.P. Morgan said this change simplifies valuation by isolating the operating performance of the group from the separate listed medical care business.
Sector valuation backdrop
The brokerage positioned the recommendation within a broader market context. The MSCI Europe Healthcare Equipment and Services sector was trading at 19.1x 12-month forward price-to-earnings, roughly 7% below its 25-year historical average of 20.5x. On a relative basis versus the broader European index, the sector was at a 16% discount to its long-run average, a gap J.P. Morgan said had only been seen once over the past two decades during the post-global financial crisis recovery.
Of the 20 medtech stocks tracked in the note, only two were trading higher year-to-date as of March 12, 2026: Philips and Elekta. Fresenius SE itself was down 5.1% year-to-date, a decline that the note described as relatively contained compared with several peers. Gerresheimer was down 34.5% year-to-date, while Carl Zeiss Meditec had fallen 41%.
Analyst ratings
J.P. Morgans coverage in the note assigns an "overweight" rating to Fresenius SE while assigning an "underweight" rating to Fresenius Medical Care, the separately listed entity.
The brokerages view blends company-specific operational momentum in divisions such as Kabi and biopharma with a wider sector valuation reset, forming the rationale for elevating Fresenius as the top pick within European medtech.