The High‑Growth Healthcare Stock Early Investors Will Brag About for the Next Decade

The long-term prognosis for Hinge Health (NYSE: HNGE) is swinging toward optimism. The mid-cap company is rapidly becoming a big player in the digital musculoskeletal health niche. As healthcare costs climb, employers are coming to recognize that physical therapy sessions delivered digitally and remotely can be a cost-saving tool, helping those whom they insure to avoid expensive orthopedic surgeries.

Hinge Health went public in May 2025. The business's revenue rose by 51% to $587.9 million last year -- an increase that compares favorably to such well-known tech companies as Nvidia and CrowdStrike. And for 2026, it's guiding for a top line of $732 million to $742 million, which would be an increase of 25% at the midpoint.

While Hinge Health posted a net loss of $523.8 million in 2025, it appears to be getting closer to profitability. In the fourth quarter, it reported net income of $32 million, up 18.3% year over year. Despite those numbers, the stock is up by less than 7% since its IPO, so investors still have an opportunity to buy shares before they catch up with its revenue growth.

What exactly does Hinge Health do?

A report by Grand View Research put the size of the U.S. physical therapy services market at $50.2 billion in 2024, and projects it will grow to $76.6 billion by 2033. That would mean a compound annual growth rate of 4.9% from 2025 to 2033.

Hinge Health is seeing that trend firsthand. In the fourth quarter, it expanded its corporate client base by 25% year over year to 2,830, while the number of individuals eligible to use its services grew by 25% to 25 million. And the number of people engaging with its platform jumped 47% year over year to 782,890.

The digital health company uses a care model that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate physical therapy sessions, helping self-insured employers cut their costs, lessen employee downtime, and reduce the need for expensive orthopedic surgeries.

In November, Hinge Health announced two new features on its platform: Robin, an "AI care assistant," and movement analysis. Robin helps patients recognize pain flares, gather additional information, and summarize those details for their physical therapist. It's expected to help the company serve more customers while keeping care-team costs flat.

The movement analysis feature is designed to target treatment. It uses TrueMotion computer vision technology, guiding patients through targeted movements to measure joint angles, symmetry, and endurance. It uses those measurements, along with questions, to create Hinge scores for joint health.

The company also has a wearable wireless device, Enso, which sends electrical pulses to painful areas. This reduces patients' need for drugs to treat chronic pain and allows them to start physical therapy sooner.

Just the beginning of its growth cycle

The company hasn't been consistently profitable yet, but given its 65% year-over-year growth in free cash flow (FCF) to $61.5 million, it's trading at a price-to-FCF ratio of less than 19. Late last year, seeing that the shares might be underpriced, Hinge Health approved a $250 million stock buyback program.

The company's relatively high gross margin (84% in the fourth quarter) and its use of AI to improve efficiency and profitability provide multiple reasons to see the stock as a long-term buy. As Hinge Health succeeds in the physical therapy space, CEO Daniel Perez said it will look to expand into other healthcare areas that could benefit from its automated solutions.

James Halley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.