Major healthcare companies, including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH), reported their third quarter earnings on Tuesday morning. Mizuho healthcare equity strategist Jared Holz joins Catalysts to discuss his outlook on the healthcare sector for this earnings season.

Holz identifies three key factors impacting healthcare earnings: healthcare utilization, the upcoming US presidential election, and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity.

According to Holz, healthcare utilization is "the driving factor" for companies reporting earnings. Based on reports so far, he notes that the procedural earnings backdrop remains strong, "indicating a lot more patient mobility," surgeries, and other activities, which bodes well for the overall healthcare sector.

"We kind of look at the sector in its entirety; it's really based so much on what patients are doing, what sort of procedures they're having, and we're finding that they're running still very strong," Holz explains.

While Holz acknowledges that the presidential election will have a short-term impact on the healthcare sector, he points out that investors are closely watching the outcome. He notes that Medicare rates are typically more favorable under Republican leadership than Democratic leadership. "If that winds up being the case," he suggests, healthcare stocks could see a rebound. However, Holz doesn't anticipate significant long-term changes in the sector due to election results.

Regarding M&A activity, Holz observes, "All of the pharma companies are subject to the same macro challenges across the board, which is to say that these assets in the pharmaceutical industry are not durable, and they have to continuously do M&A to keep revenue growth going and earnings growth going."

To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here.

This post was written by Angel Smith