CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares have had a brutal year.
The biotechnology giant is down around 60% over the past 12 months, which is an extraordinary fall for a company of its stature.
That kind of decline can make investors hesitate. It can also create opportunity.
If I had $10,000 to invest in one ASX 200 healthcare share today, I would be willing to put it into CSL. But I would only do so with realistic expectations.
This is not a stock I would buy expecting a quick rebound.
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Why CSL shares have become interesting
CSL is facing a difficult period.
The market has lost confidence in the company after disappointing updates, guidance pressure, and concerns about whether the business can return to the quality of growth investors once expected.
Those concerns are fair.
CSL needs to rebuild trust. It needs to show that its plasma collection network, cost base, product portfolio, and Vifor business can deliver better returns over time.
But I do not think the long-term investment case has disappeared.
CSL still owns valuable healthcare assets across plasma therapies, vaccines, and specialist medicines. These are linked to real medical needs, global healthcare demand, and long-term patient treatment.
That is why I think the CSL share price fall could be overdone.
The business has disappointed, but I do not believe the core opportunity has been permanently destroyed.
Being paid to wait
One part of the CSL story that looks more appealing after the selloff is the dividend.
CSL has not traditionally been viewed as a high-yield income stock. Investors usually bought it for growth, with the dividend as a smaller part of the overall return.
But after a 60% share price fall, the dividend yield has become more attractive.
That can make a difference for long-term investors.
If the recovery takes time, investors may still receive income while waiting for sentiment to improve. And if CSL can eventually find its form again and grow its dividend over time, today's buyers could end up with a much better yield on cost down the track.
That is not guaranteed, of course. Dividends depend on earnings, cash flow, and management decisions.
But I think the income component now adds something useful to the investment case.
How I would invest the $10,000
I would not assume CSL has already hit the bottom.
The shares could remain volatile. Investor confidence is weak, and the company still needs to prove itself.
For that reason, I would consider investing gradually.
An investor could put part of the $10,000 into CSL now and keep the rest available in case the shares fall further or more evidence of a recovery appears.
That approach gives some exposure today without relying on perfect timing.
Foolish takeaway
I think CSL shares are worth buying after such a large fall, but this is no longer the simple set-and-forget quality story it may have seemed in the past.
The company has work to do.
That said, the share price now reflects a lot of disappointment. CSL still has global healthcare assets, long-term demand drivers, and a dividend yield that gives investors something to collect while they wait.
If I were investing $10,000 today, I would be comfortable buying CSL shares. I would just be prepared to be patient, because the recovery may be measured in years rather than weeks.
