Should You Continue to Hold Insulet Stock in Your Portfolio?

Insulet PODD is well-poised to grow in the upcoming quarters, owing to its strong momentum for the Omnipod 5 automated insulin delivery (“AID”) system for both Type 1 and Type 2 populations. The diabetes market’s underpenetration highlights a significant runway for Omnipod. Solid financial health adds to the stock’s appeal. However, macroeconomic pressures and intense competition could pose headwinds for Insulet’s operations.

In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has lost 14.8% compared with the industry’s 18.9% fall. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 composite has returned 20.2% in the same time frame.

The developer, manufacturer and distributor of insulin delivery systems has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion. The company’s estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 27.1% is well ahead of the industry’s 12.5% growth. PODD’s earnings surpassed estimates in the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 16.6%.

Let us delve deeper.

Upsides for Insulet

Widespread Adoption of Omnipod 5: Insulet’s game-changing Omnipod 5 stands out as the only FDA-cleared, fully disposable pod-based AID system. Its on-body wearability, simplicity, ease of use and broad accessibility are driving rapid adoption and overall market growth. In the fourth quarter of 2025, international Omnipod revenues grew 42% year over year in constant currency, supported by positive price/mix realization from the continuous shift from Omnipod DASH.

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In Australia, customer starts more than tripled following the launch of Omnipod 5. U.S. Omnipod revenues grew 28%, driven by continued demand for Omnipod 5 across type 1 and type 2 customers. More than 85% of new customers came from MDI, while Type 2 represented more than 40% of all starts. In 2026, Insulet is preparing to deliver a steady cadence of enhancements to Omnipod 5, including expanding CGM integrations with Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus.

High Potential in Underpenetrated Diabetes Market: The global diabetes device market is projected to see a CAGR of 6% through 2026-2032, per Grand View Research, driven by growing prevalence of diabetes, rising obesity rates and the increasing use of insulin-delivery devices. On a deeper note, Insulet estimates roughly 40% of the Type 1 U.S. diabetes population and 25% internationally use insulin pump therapy.

Usage is far lower among the insulin-requiring type 2 population and the U.S. basal-only insulin type 2 population. This gap underscores a large global opportunity for the Omnipod platform. For 2025, the company’s U.S. revenues grew 27% to $1.9 billion, and international revenue of $754 million were up 39% in constant currency.

Strong Solvency: Insulet exited the fourth quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $716.1 million, and current debt of $18 million. This robust financial stability appears highly promising, especially during prolonged periods of macroeconomic instability. Long-term debt totaled $931 million, down 0.4% sequentially. Debt-to-capital was 38.5% at the end of the fourth quarter, while times interest earned was 6.7%.

What Ails Insulet?

Economic Uncertainty Hampers Growth: The continuing worldwide macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty may reduce the demand for Insulet’s products, intensify competition, exert pressure on prices, dent supply and lengthen the sales cycle.

In addition, Insulet continues to experience challenges stemming from the global supply-chain disruption. The company’s reliance on third-party suppliers, especially in China, could face risks from political or financial instability, labor unrest and rising tariffs. The expansion of U.S. tariffs, sanctions or other trade barriers could materially impact its financial results.

Tough Competitive Pressure: Insulet operates in a highly competitive diabetes medical device market, mostly with companies that provide products and supplies for MDI therapy, including smart pens. The company also competes with established companies that produce insulin pumps, as well as emerging companies like Beta Bionics Inc. Insulet can face pricing pressure if competitors gain acceptance for their offerings by changing their pricing model or by lowering prices.

PODD Stock Estimate Trend

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Insulet’s 2026 earnings per share of $6.18 has increased 1.5% in the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2026 revenues is pegged at $3.30 billion. This suggests a 21.8% rise from the year-ago reported number.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Globus Medical GMED, Intuitive Surgical ISRG and Phibro Animal Health PAHC.

Globus Medical has an earnings yield of 4.9%, well ahead of the industry’s 0.7% decline. Its earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 18.8%. The company’s shares have rallied 17.3% against the industry’s 7.8% fall in the past year.

GMED sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Intuitive Surgical, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has an earnings yield of 2.1% against the industry’s 0.7% fall. Shares of the company have dropped 2.6% compared with the industry’s 7.8% fall. ISRG’s earnings topped estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 13.2%.

Phibro Animal Health, presently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has an earnings yield of 6.1% compared with the industry’s 2.6% return. Shares of the company have soared 139.7% against the industry’s 18.8% decline. PAHC’s earnings beat estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 20.2%.

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