The Cochlear Ltd (ASX: COH) share price has climbed higher into the green in Wednesday morning trade.
At the time of writing, the ASX healthcare shares are up over 1% to $137.95 a piece.
Today's increase means the shares have now rebounded around 53% from a 10-year low of just $90 each in late April.
The recovery has been pretty consistent, but there is a long way for the shares to go before they return to pre-2026 levels following a series of investor sell-offs earlier this year.
It's been a difficult year for the medical hearing implant device company. Cochlear has suffered from a number of strong headwinds, including a sector-wide rotation away from ASX healthcare shares this year and some disappointing financial updates.
The Cochlear share price fell around 20% after the company released its half-year results in February, and the shares crashed another 41% in a day in late April after the company downgraded its guidance figures.
Image source: Getty Images
What has driven the rebound?
There has clearly been a recovery of investor sentiment since April, and healthcare stocks have generally started attracting more interest from investors over the past couple of months.
In July, the company confirmed that its hearing implant systems will continue to be imported into the US duty-free after the US Government released its findings from a series of Section 301 investigations. The announcement helped ease US tariff issue concerns.
In mid-August, management posted its FY26 results. The announcement included underlying net profit of $322 million, down 22% but right at the top end of guidance.
Looking ahead to FY27, Cochlear expects low-single-digit constant currency revenue growth and an underlying net profit between $330 million and $350 million.
Investors were thrilled with the results and rushed to snap up the shares.
Now the question is, can the Cochlear share price keep climbing? Or is another crash coming?
Here's what the experts think.
Can the Cochlear share price climb higher?
Looking ahead, I still see Cochlear as a strong, globally dominant business with its long-term outlook intact. I think the steep sell-off this year was overdone, and that the share price could quietly keep climbing higher.
But at the time of writing, it looks like the experts aren't convinced. It looks like many are questioning whether Cochlear shares can stage a meaningful recovery over the next 12 months.
Market Index data shows the majority of brokers have a hold rating on Cochlear shares. But the $126.07 average target price now implies a potential 8% downside from the current trading price.
TradingView data is a little more positive. Again, the majority of analysts have a hold rating on the shares. The $142.26 average target price implies a potential 4% upside over the next 12 months, at the time of writing.
