Larry Robbins is bullish on health care again and made a pitch for three companies he likes at this year’s Sohn Conference.
In keeping with what has been a familiar theme for the founder, CEO and portfolio manager at Glenview Capital Management, Robbins picked Express Scripts/Cigna, CVS/Aetna and McKesson as his winners in the field. The Express-Cigna and CVS-Aetna mergers are in the deal pipeline at differing stages.
“These stocks are all trading at historically low multiples,” Robbins said during a rapid-fire presentation at the glitzy annual gathering of hedge fund and investing heavyweights.
In addition to liking the companies for what they are, Robbins likes them for what they’re not: susceptible to an Amazon invasion. Contrary to some widespread opinion, Amazon is not coming to take over the health care business and won’t pose threat to these industry giants, he said.
With the opioid crisis continuing to sweep the country and the general black eye providers have taken over pricing, Robbins sees Amazon staying away.
“For that reason, Amazon doesn’t do firearms, they don’t do tobacco, they don’t do wine or alcohol,” he said. “These are highly regulated businesses where the risks, in their judgement, simply outweigh the rewards.”
At previous Sohn conferences, Robbins also has touted big health care with familiar names: Express and CVS.
“Over the next seven years, these exact same stocks [will benefit from] a misunderstanding of multiples and great growth in front of them,” he said.
