ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD) shares are marching higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) sleep disorder treatment company closed on Friday trading for $27.64. In afternoon trade on Tuesday, following the Monday King's Birthday ASX trading holiday, shares are swapping hands for $27.91 apiece, up 1%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.3% at this same time.
Taking a step back, however, ResMed shares remain down 28.2% over the past 12 months, materially lagging the 0.2% one-year gains of the benchmark index.
Which brings us back to our headline question.
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Resmed shares: Buy, hold, or sell?
MPC Markets' Mark Gardner recently analysed the outlook for the ASX healthcare stock (courtesy of The Bull).
"ResMed remains a high-quality respiratory care business," he noted.
Addressing the past year's selling pressure, Gardner noted:
Concerns about the impact of GLP-1 weight loss drugs have weighed on sentiment, although recent analysis suggests the big undiagnosed sleep apnoea market still provides a long runway for device demand.
He added:
The company continues to benefit from a strong mask and device portfolio, but investors were disappointed management left its fiscal year 2026 outlook unchanged after a solid third quarter result.
Connecting the dots, Gardner issued a hold recommendation on ResMed shares.
"Our hold recommendation balances the quality of the franchise against near term uncertainty around margins, competition and investor expectations," he concluded.
What's the latest from the ASX 200 healthcare share?
ResMed released the third-quarter results Gardner mentioned above on 1 May.
Highlights included revenue of US$1.43 billion. That was up 11% year on year, or up 8% in constant currency.
The quarter also saw ResMed achieve an operating cash flow of US$554 million, with US$262 million returned to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.
ResMed pays dividends on a quarterly basis.
"Our third quarter results reflect the continued strength of our global business, driven by ongoing demand for our market-leading products and disciplined execution of our strategy," ResMed CEO Mick Farrell said.
Farrell added:
These results highlight the momentum behind our strategy, and the continued progress we are making in shaping the future of sleep health, breathing health, and healthcare in the home.
As we advance through the remainder of our fiscal year 2026, we remain focused on expanding access to care globally, scaling our digital health capabilities, and delivering further strong, profitable growth.
Amid high expectations and potentially the lack of an FY 2026 outlook upgrade, ResMed shares closed down 7.6% on the day of the results release.
