Medline's IPO underscores broad investor appetite for a sleepy corner of the healthcare business

By Claudia Assis and Jaimy Lee

Medline's stock rises more than 40% after Wednesday IPO

Medline CEO Jim Boyle, right, celebrates after ringing the Nasday opening bell on Wednesday.

Forget weight-loss drugs and the latest development for their makers - the hottest healthcare stock right now makes those ubiquitous striped blankets for newborns and offers more than 300,000 other medical and surgical products.

Medline's stock (MDLN) soared 41% above its IPO price on Wednesday. That was the best offer-to-close price performance since diagnostics company BillionToOne (BLLN) rose 82% on its first day of trading Nov. 6.

It underscores broad investor interest in an important, though not splashy, corner of the healthcare business.

The family-owned company was acquired by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman in 2021 in a $34 billion leveraged buyout. It makes supplies used by hospitals and doctors offices such as masks, gloves, surgical trays and those blankets for newborns.

It priced the offering at $29 a share. In its prospectus, the company said it has experienced more than 50 years of consecutive annual sales growth, culminating in sales north of $20 billion every year since 2021.

Medline was also the biggest IPO of the year. The company raised $6.26 billion.

"Our business is uniquely resilient during market downturns, as evidenced by our growth through every recession since our founding and during global healthcare crises," Medline said in its prospectus.

The company said that its net sales grew by about 17% a year during the 2008-'09 financial crisis, and by about 11% during the pandemic.

Moreover, Medline said it sees "significant runway" for future sales and earnings growth as clients grow and further consolidate their medical-surgical spending with it. It also said it plans on going for "selective" mergers and acquisitions and on scaling up its international footprint.

For the nine months ended Sept. 27, Medline's net sales reached $20.6 billion. For 2024, the company generated net sales of $25.5 billion. It estimated its total addressable market to be about $375 billion globally, including some $175 billion in the U.S.

"We expect our market opportunity in the United States will grow over the long term, driven by secular tailwinds including an aging population and the growing prevalence of chronic conditions," Medline said.

Among its risk factors, the company listed its reliance on IT platforms to operate the business, a complex regulatory landscape in the U.S. and beyond, as well as "extensive" environmental, health and safety requirements, and inflation.

-Claudia Assis -Jaimy Lee

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12-17-25 1643ET