Bernstein Begins Fresenius Medical Care Coverage at Market-Perform

08:02 AM EDT, 07/17/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Bernstein commenced its coverage of Fresenius Medical Care (FME.F) with a market-perform rating, highlighting that the dialysis services and products company has been executing well on its transformation program, which was announced in 2021. "The company is currently in the midst of two large-scale transformative projects: 1) FME Reignite, the extension of the company's FME25 restructuring program and 2) the largest product rollout in the company's history with the launch of the 5008x high volume hemodiafiltration ("HVHDF") machine," the research firm said Thursday. "We are believers in HVHDF and its potential to improve the U.S. treatment growth rate over the medium-term, though FMC's long-term +2% guidance still feels ambitious." The research firm views the HVHDF product launch as "promising" but expects the company's margin improvement over the last three years to stall in 2026 and 2027 due to regulatory and inflation headwinds. "We believe positive sentiment from the HVHDF rollout is likely to be offset by downward revisions to 2027E estimates, especially as the clinical benefits of HVHDF are unlikely to materially impact treatment growth before late 2027E," analysts added, setting the price target at 44.65 euros.