Waystar Holding

WAY · NASDAQ

$28.81+$0.82 (+2.93%)TodayMarket closed · Oct 20, 7:30 PM ET

Prev close $27.99

WAY analyst rating

BuyConsensus of 19 analysts over the last 12 months. 89% rate it a buy.

Strong buy0
Buy17
Hold2
Underperform0
Sell0

12-month price target · 24 analysts

Average $34.36 (+19.3% upside)

Low: $28.28
Now: $28.81
High: $46.20

Upgrades and downgrades

The latest rating actions, newest first

WAY analyst upgrades, downgrades and rating actions
Firm	Date	Action	Rating	Price target	Hit rate
Keybanc	Oct 16, 2026	Maintains	Overweight	$30.00 → $35.00	35%
Freedom Capital Markets	Sep 16, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$32.00	64%
Barclays	Sep 15, 2026	Downgrade	Overweight → Equal-Weight	$27.00 → $30.00	53%
Canaccord Genuity	Aug 31, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$30.00 → $33.00	43%
RBC Capital	Aug 27, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$44.00	67%
Needham	Aug 26, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$33.00	46%
Truist Securities	Aug 13, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$38.00 → $33.00	37%
Barclays	Aug 7, 2026	Maintains	Overweight	$25.00 → $27.00	53%
UBS	Jul 30, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$37.00 → $33.00	67%
Wells Fargo	Jul 30, 2026	Maintains	Overweight	$36.00 → $33.00	48%

The case for and against

Updated Oct 14, 2026

Bull case

Waystar Holding is attractive because it pairs a mission-critical healthcare payments platform with a deep data moat, connecting to 5k+ payors, 500+ EHR integrations, and roughly 8.5B annual transactions, which supports superior claims-denial prevention and faster reimbursement. Its financial profile also looks strong, with management reiterating 8-10% growth, 40%+ margins, and a long-term model that can expand through cross-sell opportunities across 30k+ clients, 60%+ upsell bookings, and an estimated $44.1B TAM. The outlook is further strengthened by Altitude AI, which leverages proprietary claims data to drive new revenue streams, while strong retention, ~106% NRR, and embedded customer workflows make the platform difficult to displace.

Bear case

Waystar Holding is facing a weaker fundamental setup because its growth was boosted by a $34 million topline benefit from the Change Healthcare fallout in 2024, making future deceleration likely as that one-time tailwind fades and organic growth normalizes toward the broader end market at 5%. The company also operates in a crowded, fragmented revenue cycle market where Optum, Epic, Cerner, and emerging AI competitors could pressure share, while 12–18 month hospital sales cycles may delay bookings and revenue recognition. In addition, roughly 50% of revenue is volume-based, so utilization softness, regulatory shifts, and cybersecurity or compliance failures under HIPAA, HITECH, and PCI could meaningfully impair customer retention, forecasting, and margins.

Information on this page is provided for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Market data is delayed at least 15 minutes and is provided without warranty. Analyst ratings, price targets and company data come from third-party sources. Past performance does not guarantee future results.