DataMEDS AI (MEDS) announced on Sept. 15 that it acquired Helomics and a lab services business, sparking a huge rally in MEDS stock. Shares of MEDS stock gained 87% on Sept. 15 and 275% in the following session. Like the lab services unit, Helomics was sold by Axe Compute (AGPU) and utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) for cancer diagnostics and treatment.
Generally, I'm a big fan of using AI in medicine, and a fan of the companies that do so. In fact, I own two stocks — Schrodinger (SDGR) and Radnet (RDNT) — that specialize in this area; Schrodinger uses AI to help speed up the drug-discovery process, while many of Radnet's diagnostic medical devices utilize AI.
However, Helomics' presumably low revenue — and the very low price of $1.5 million that DataMEDS paid to acquire the unit — lead me to question the extent of the demand for Helomics' offerings. Meanwhile, although the valuation of MEDS stock is low, the company does not appear to generate much revenue either, with sales plunging on a year-over-year (YOY) basis in recent quarters.
In light of these points, I do not recommend that investors jump on board the MEDS stock train right now. Let's take a closer look.
What to Make of the Helomics Acquisition
Now known as Axe Compute, Precision Therapeutics acquired Helomics back in 2018. But in recent years, Axe Compute has generated little revenue, as its full-year sales came in at roughly $84,800 and $125,200 in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Axe Compute did manage to generate revenue of $3.2 million in the second quarter of 2026, but that followed sales of just $35,00 in Q1 2026. Moreover, Axe Compute indicated on the Q2 earnings call that all of its quarterly revenue came from its GPU compute business. So, Helomics does not appear to be generating much in revenue at all.
In exchange for Helomics, Axe Compute received 636,328 shares of MEDS stock and a $1.36 million convertible promissory note that's convertible to DataMEDS stock for a price of $1 per share. Axe indicated that it would seek shareholder approval to convert the note within 75 days of the transaction.
Based on the current price of roughly $3.76 per share of DataMEDS stock, my calculations show that Axe could obtain about $7.5 million from the transaction before taxes, assuming that it converts the note and then immediately sells all of its shares. However, that estimate uses the current share price; MEDS stock has been trending lower since its huge jump upward on Sept. 16.
Overall, the transaction represents a rather low acquisition price for a healthcare technology firm. In comparison, iCAD — which specializes in using AI to detect breast cancer — was acquired by Radnet in April 2025 for $103 million in an all-stock deal.
Plunging Sales and a Low Valuation
Meanwhile, despite its low valuation and the recent acquisition, DataMEDS' slowing sales make MEDS stock an unattractive investment.
In Q2 2026, DataMEDS reported revenue of $1.78 million, up 14% sequentially but down 77% from the same period a year earlier. In Q1 2026, revenue tumbled 86% YOY to $1.56 million from $10.86 million in Q1 2025. Therefore, although its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is a tiny 0.8 times, the company's low revenue and large sales declines make the stock unappealing.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer had a position in: SDGR , RDNT . All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.