Published on 28 May 2024 on Insider Monkey via Yahoo Finance

Hedge Funds are Bullish on This Cancer Stock

We recently compiled a list of the 7 Best Mid-Cap Healthcare Stocks To Buy Now and in this article we discuss why hedge funds have sizable positions in Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS).

Challenges in the Health Sector

The healthcare industry is considered to be a fairly defensive sector due to its need. According to a World Health Organization report from December 2023, global health spending reached a new high in 2021 at $9.8 trillion or 10.3% of global gross domestic product (GDP). However, spending distribution remained highly unequal, with public health spending increasing worldwide, except in low-income countries where government health spending declined as it relied heavily on external health aid. In 2021, 11% of the global population lived in countries spending less than $50 per person annually on health, while high-income countries spent around $4,000 per capita. Additionally, low-income countries, despite having 8% of the global population, accounted for only 0.24% of global health expenditure. The report states that while there was a significant increase in public spending on health during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this growth is unlikely to be sustained over the long term as countries now focus on economic challenges like slowing growth, high inflation, and increased debt servicing. Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage, Life Course said: