By Kit Norton

Shares of Hims & Hers Health sank late Monday after the company underperformed first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, surprising Wall Street with a quarterly loss.

The telehealth provider, which made a name for itself in the business of weight-loss drugs, posted a first-quarter loss of 40 cents a share, compared with profit of 20 cents a share a year ago. Wall Street was looking for a profit of 3 cents a share.

Revenue rose 3.7% to $608.1 million, while analysts called for $616.8 million, according to FactSet.

Hims stock fell 8.4% in after-hours action after ending regular trading on Monday up 3.1% to $29.15. The stock is down 8% so far this year, but has advanced 9.4% so far in May.

Subscribers totaled 2.6 million at the end of the first quarter, from more than 2.5 million subscribers at the end of 2025. Its business centers on a direct-to-consumer subscription model through which the company offers telehealth consultations and specialized prescriptions.

Hims is losing its edge as major drugmakers seek to reclaim the market share that the telehealth provider gained during a shortage of GLP-1 weight loss medications.

Looking ahead, Hims forecasts second-quarter revenue between $680 million to $700 million, above the analyst consensus call for $643 million.

For the full year, the company projects sales of $2.8 billion to $3 billion, up from February's guidance calling for $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion in revenue. Wall Street currently predicts 2026 sales totaling $2.75 billion, according to FactSet.

Both outlooks exclude potential contributions from the proposed acquisition of Australian telehealth provider Eucalyptus. The transaction is expected to close in the middle of 2026, Hims said.

Hims operates and works with compounding pharmacies, which create tailored medications on a patient-by-patient basis. The company takes advantage of a legal framework that allows it to circumvent Food and Drug Administration approval for its products.

The company enjoyed a surge in popularity in late 2024 when there was a lack of GLP-1 medications, as enormous demand created an opportunity to pull business away from major drugmakers that were struggling to keep up.

Shares more than doubled in 2024 and posted a 34% gain in 2025 against a 16% gain for the S&P 500.

However, with the shortage resolved, Hims is being forced to make concessions to companies that initially refused to sell their products on its platform.

In early March Novo Nordisk agreed to drop a patent infringement lawsuit against Hims in exchange for the telehealth provider's commitment to sell branded Ozempic and Wegovy through its online pharmacy. The Danish drugmaker sued Hims in February, accusing the company of patent infringement for selling compounded versions of its weight-loss drugs.

Hims stock bottomed at the end of February, closing at $14.52. Since then, shares have jumped 104%, surging 31% in April on a steady peptides news flow.

Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Craig Hettenbach, on April 22 highlighted the recent rally and that the move "highlights a push and pull in the stock between weak near-term fundamentals in the core business vs. excitement about new categories."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said last month that the government would loosen regulations for about a dozen peptides. The short chains of amino acids are used in myriad health applications -- including for weight loss, muscle recovery, skin rejuvenation, and treating specific diseases like diabetes.

The peptides in question were banned for use in compounding pharmacies back in 2023. The reversal is good news for Hims, which has indicated it is looking to enter the peptide business.

Although Hims management has asserted that GLP-1s make up a fraction of its business, the Novo deal has opened up a sales gap. The peptides decision paves the way for new revenue streams, which can help the company redirect its GLP-1 capacity toward other peptides and stem some of its current sunk costs.

"In the first quarter, we made a strategic pivot that expanded our assortment of branded GLP-1 products, and early demand signals show our consumer reach broadening meaningfully," CFO Yemi Okupe said in the earnings release Monday.

Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 11, 2026 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)

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