Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. November 1, 2024.
Joel Angel Juarez | Reuters
Dental care supplier Henry Schein advanced in Monday trading as investors bet that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, could recommend removing fluoride from the U.S. water system, a move that would lead to a boom in dental visits.
Shares of Henry Schein shares jumped about 7.5%, notching its best day since 2022. Fellow dental product makers Dentsply Sirona and Envista also rose in the session.
Monday’s moves come as investors ready for public health changes under a second Trump administration. Kennedy posted on X before the presidential election this month that a “Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.”
1-day chart
Fluoride has long been shown as an effective method for fighting cavities. But the mineral has found itself at the center of a nationwide fight that’s led some local communities to end programs centered on its insertion into public water.
While Kennedy will need to win Senate approval to take the job, market participants are already zeroing in on a group of stocks that make dental hygiene products as potential beneficiaries of his policies. That’s because taking fluoride out of water would actually put the tooth cleaning industry in higher demand as consumers look elsewhere to fight cavities, according to firm Gordon Haskett.
A general view of the Henry Schein Inc. building a distributor of health care products and services with a presence in 32 countries, as photographed in Melville, New York.
Bruce Bennett | Getty Images
“The thought here is RFK will bring to HHS a voice that is in favor of reducing, or eliminating, the amount of fluoridation that is added to drinking water,” Don Bilson, Gordon Haskett’s head of event-driven research, told clients in a Monday note. “This will, in turn, lead to an acceleration of tooth decay and more dental visits.”
Henry Schein shares took a leg up in afternoon trading following a Reuters report that activist investor Ananym Capital was calling for changes at the company. The newly launched firm, which is led by Charlie Penner and Alex Silver, believes the board should be shaken up and costs should be cut, among other ideas.
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