What Does High-Growth Actually Look Like in MedTech? 

We hear versions of the same question from two different types of clients. 

Private MedTech companies often ask us what revenue growth profile is required to be considered a high-growth MedTech company. Public MedTech companies often find it difficult to assess where they stand relative to their peers, and how investors may be viewing them in that context. For both, the answer has real implications.  

Whether public or private, understanding your company’s position within the broader landscape directly shapes how to communicate your story to investors, set expectations, and approach key moments like financings or investor events. Regardless of growth profile, having a clearly aligned investor relations and communications strategy is essential, and one of the most direct ways to influence the sentiment-based component of how your company is valued by the market.  

Telling your story well starts with knowing where you stand—an answer that is part qualitative, part quantitative, and always fluid.  

This blog will focus on the quantitative part of the answer. To do so, we would like to introduce ICR Healthcare’s (“ICR-HC”) ICR-HC MedTech Universe¹, 149 US-listed MedTech companies that we follow as strategic advisors in the MedTech sector. The majority of these companies have reported fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 results, and we have a considerable number of stocks with forward revenue estimates through 2028, both of which are key inputs to evaluating expected growth profiles across the sector. 

We will start with a look back at the MedTech sector’s trading performance in 2025 and we will summarize the growth and valuation of the fastest growers in the MedTech sector last year on an absolute and relative basis, as well as how they compared to the sector overall. 

We will also introduce the ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026, comprised of the top two deciles of expected revenue compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) from 2025 to 2028. We will follow this group throughout the year to see how they perform versus Street expectations and if and how their forward valuation multiples change throughout the year.  

A note on terminology: throughout this piece, we reference three defined categories. The ICR-HC MedTech Universe represents all 149 US-listed MedTech companies that ICR-HC follows. A MedTech Class is a filtered subset of the Universe (see footnotes for specific criteria). A High-Growth MedTech Group represents the top two deciles of a MedTech Class by expected revenue CAGR. Each is a progressively narrower lens on the sector. 

The ICR-HC MedTech Universe – 2025 Review 

Indexed Performance:  

In calendar year 2025, the ICR-HC MedTech Universe had a share price return of 15.9% and a total return of 17.7% when including reinvested dividends²,³, compared to 11.7% (total return: 13.2%) for the broader healthcare sector (iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF) and 16.4% (total return: 17.9%) for the S&P 500.  

Growth & Valuation Profile: ICR-HC MedTech Class of 2025⁴ 

The ICR-HC MedTech Class of 2025 is a subset of the ICR-HC MedTech Universe, narrowed to 122 US-listed MedTech companies with revenue greater than $1M in 2022, reported revenues each year from 2022 through 2025, and an enterprise value above zero. This excludes pre-commercial companies and those with recently announced M&A transactions. 

It is interesting to note that the metrics for these companies vary significantly. 

Median 2025 revenue was $549 million with a range of $3 million to $94 billion. 

Similarly, while median 2025 revenue growth was 9.4%, growth rates ranged from (~54%) to ~129%. 

The EV / 2025 Revenue valuation multiples also showed wide disparity. The median multiple of the class was 2.6x, with a range of 0.2x to 96.1x. Granted, some of the extreme valuations were related to capital structure challenges or very small revenue numbers. 

Notably, 75 of the companies (61%) had positive Earnings Per Share (EPS) in 2025. This compared to profitable companies representing only 53% of the class in 2022. 

MedTech Class of 2025 – Trailing 3-Year Growth Summary: 

Looking closer at trailing 3-year revenue growth across the MedTech Class of 2025 (Median: 9.7%), the distribution of revenue CAGRs shows that 20%+ revenue growth over a multi-year period is relatively unique (~25% of total). More than half of the class delivered less than 10% revenue CAGR from 2022 to 2025.  

ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2025⁵ 

As a reminder, the ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2025 is comprised of the top two deciles of the Class of 2025, ranked by revenue CAGR from 2022 to 2025. There are 25 companies in this group, and to be included, a company had to have a minimum 3-year CAGR of 23.9%. 

The ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2025 delivered a median revenue CAGR of 31.6%, driven, in part, by a smaller initial base of revenue. Median revenue increased from $46 million in 2022 to $100 million in 2025. 

The ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2025 trades at 3.1x 2025 revenue, a modest premium to the Class of 2025 at 2.6x.  

There is also clear evidence of a trend toward more High-Growth MedTech companies focused on improving profitability – 44% of the group were EPS positive in 2025, compared to only 13% in 2022.  

Why High-Growth Matters 

Historically, there has been a strong correlation between a company’s organic revenue growth profile and valuation multiples for US-listed MedTech companies. While actual stock returns are driven by fundamental performance versus expectations and sentiment-based changes in valuation multiples, the market is a forward-looking engine and, as such, the companies with the highest expected revenue growth are typically awarded the highest forward valuation multiples.  

For companies at any stage of growth, where they stand in this landscape carries real implications, both for how investors value them and for how they communicate their story to the market. 

ICR-HC MedTech Class of 2026 

The ICR-HC MedTech Class of 2026 is a subset of the ICR-HC MedTech Universe, narrowed to 106 US-listed MedTech companies with revenue greater than $1M in 2025, consensus revenue estimates each year from 2025 through 2028, and an enterprise value above zero. This excludes pre-commercial companies and those with recently announced M&A transactions. 

ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026⁶ 

The ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026 is comprised of the top two deciles of the Class of 2026, ranked by revenue CAGR from 2025 to 2028. There are 22 companies in this group, and to be included, a company had to have a minimum 3-year CAGR of 22.8%. 

The ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026 is expected to deliver a median revenue CAGR of ~39% from 2025 to 2028, with a minimum CAGR of 22.8%.  

The ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026 trades at 3.3x 2026 revenue, a 35% premium to the overall Class of 2026 at 2.4x. However, on a 2028 revenue basis, the High-Growth Group 2026 trades at 1.4x, a discount to the overall Class of 2026 at 1.8x. We believe this valuation disconnect is driven by seven of the fastest expected growers trading at a discount to 2028 revenue, reflecting balance sheet concerns and likely capital needs relative to the expected growth profile from 2025 to 2028. 

With respect to the profitability profile, just 9% of the ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026 was EPS positive in 2025, with half of the group expected to generate positive earnings in 2028. 

Looking Ahead 

The bar for ‘high-growth’ in MedTech sits meaningfully above the sector median. Looking back, the ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2025 delivered a median trailing 3-year revenue CAGR of ~32%, significantly faster than the median CAGR of ~10% for the broader ICR-HC MedTech Class of 2025.  

Looking forward, consensus revenue expectations reflect a similar dynamic. The High-Growth MedTech Group 2026 is expected to deliver a median 3-year revenue CAGR of ~39% through 2028, compared to the Class of 2026 median of ~10% and is trading at 3.3x 2026 revenue, a 35% premium to the Class of 2026. Notably, that valuation premium compresses substantially on a 2028 revenue multiple basis due to a number of these companies being smaller, earlier-stage names with perceived balance sheet risk and capital needs.  

We look forward to updating the performance, growth, and valuation in the sector as we move through 2026. Importantly, there are plenty of other ways to evaluate revenue growth profiles – and related valuation multiples – in US-listed MedTech, including market-cap ranges, by revenue scale and by sub-sector.  

Wherever your company falls on the growth spectrum, a thoughtful approach to how you communicate your story to the market and to investors matters. If you would like to discuss how your company’s growth profile compares to the ICR-HC MedTech Universe, explore how to create and position your narrative ahead of a financing or investor event, or simply share your company’s story with the broader market, please contact Mike Piccinino, CFA, IRC – Partner and Co-Head of MedTech at ICR Healthcare.

1. Source: ICR Healthcare and FactSet. FactSet data and calendarized actuals/estimates as of 3/9/26. “ICR-HC MedTech Universe” = 149 US-listed MedTech companies. 2025 revenue range: ~$1M to ~$94B. Market cap. range: ~$3M to ~$584B. ↩︎
2. Indexed returns are calculated using FactSet composite closing prices (FG_PRICE_ICS), which aggregate pricing across all US exchanges and apply fill logic to ensure data continuity across securities with varying liquidity profiles. ↩︎
3. IHI (iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF) price return of 6.5% in 2025 (total return: 6.9%). The IHI is a cap-weighted index of U.S. equities in the medical devices sector; comprised of 47 companies (excluding cash positions and derivatives) as of 3/9/26, with a market cap range of ~$450M to ~$195B. Source: FactSet and ICR Healthcare ↩︎
4. ICR-HC MedTech Class of 2025 = 122 US-listed MedTech companies with 2022 revenue > $1M, actual revenues reported from 2022–2025, and EV > $0. Excludes 3 pre-commercial companies and 4 companies with recently announced M&A transactions. ↩︎
5. ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2025 = the top 2 deciles of the Class of 2025 (122 companies), ranked by trailing 3-year revenue CAGR (2025/2022). This yields 25 companies with a minimum CAGR of ~23.9%. ↩︎
6. Class of 2026 = 106 US-listed MedTech companies with 2025 revenue > $1M, consensus revenue estimates from 2025–2028, and EV > $0. Excludes 3 pre-commercial companies and 3 pending M&A transactions. ICR-HC High-Growth MedTech Group 2026 = the top 2 deciles of the Class of 2026, ranked by forward 3-year revenue CAGR (2028/2025). This yields 22 companies with a minimum CAGR of 22.8%. ↩︎