Long-term investment in Align Technology pays off

Jeremy Booth, Dental Tribune International

Tue. 13 July 2021

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SAN JOSE, Calif., U.S.: The Invisalign clear aligner system entered the market with a string of patents and no competitors in the late 1990s. According to Zacks Equity Research, a June 2011 investment of $1,000 (€700) in its manufacturer, Align Technology, would have gained 2,668% in value by June this year.

Clear aligner therapy was a buoyant segment of the dental market before the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, and its ability to float upon market turmoil seems to have increased during the pandemic. A number of market analysts and leading dental manufacturers have identified clear aligner therapy—together with dental implants—as being a key growth area in dentistry. As Zacks Equity Research makes plain, the value of clear aligner therapy has been increasing for some time.

“A $1,000 investment made in June 2011 would be worth $27,684.63 [€23,371.90], or a 2,668.46% gain, as of June 29, 2021, according to our calculations,” Zacks said in June. The equity researcher pointed out that this sum excludes dividends but includes price increases. During the same time frame, the S&P 500, which encompasses 500 top companies in leading U.S. industries, increased in value by 230.89% and gold provided a return of 13.18%, according to Zacks.

“A $1,000 investment made in June 2011 would be worth $27,684.63, or a 2,668.46% gain, as of June 29, 2021”

Align Technology trades on the New York City-based Nasdaq stock exchange under the name ALGN. Stock in the company climbed by 3.26% in June, narrowly trailing gains made in the wider medical sector (3.32%) but outpacing the 2.16% growth shown by the S&P 500.

Jeffrey Johnson, senior analyst at Baird investment bank, told Dental Tribune International in 2019 that investors in the dental space tended to be large financial institutions, many of which hold their stocks for the long term.

Revenues from the sale of clear aligner trays made up around 85% of Align Technology’s total revenues in 2020. In that year, the company sold a record 1.6 million clear aligner cases, eclipsing its pre-pandemic sales record of just over 1.5 million cases, which was set the previous year.

The Invisalign clear aligner system was invented by Stanford University students Zia Chishti and Kelsey Worth in 1997, and it filled a valuable lacuna in orthodontics when it was introduced to the U.S. market by the newly formed Align Technology in 1999.