Trouble Sleeping?

Who doesn’t have trouble sleeping these days? Nearly 40% of adults report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once a month. Also, an estimated 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic, or ongoing, sleep disorders.

One of the most serious sleep disorders that affects 17 million Americans is sleep apnea in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. Common symptoms of sleep apnea include loud snoring and feeling tired even after a full night’s sleep.

The most common way to treat sleep apnea is through a device called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.

A CPAP machine delivers air pressure to a mask to keep the upper airway passages open, preventing snoring and sleep apnea. However, CPAP machines can cause dry nose, face redness, nose bleeds, and even difficulty sleeping. It’s also incredibly difficult to travel with a CPAP machine.

Inspire Medical Systems (INSP) solves sleep apnea in an entirely new way. Instead of a physical machine, doctors surgically implant a device underneath the skin of your neck and chest, where it delivers gentle pulses to stimulate key muscles, keeping your airways open.

Inspire is the first and only FDA-approved neurostimulation technology for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. They are also innovating to make the device available for a wider variety of patients and easier for doctors to implant.

Inspire has performed well since the IPO in 2018 but has experienced recent choppiness over the last few years.

Insider Buying

On 10/12/2023, Charisse Sparks, the Chief Medical Officer purchased $15,350 worth of stock at a share price of $153.50. However, this transaction was only reported last week on 1/24/2024.

Remember the article on Insider Transactions vs. S&P 500? We found that anytime a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) purchases company stock, there was an ~85% chance the stock would go up by 18.5% within a week. This was based on historical purchases by CMO data throughout 2021-2023.

Since Charisse’s purchase, INSP has returned 38% to date.

Remember, company insiders are required to file a form 4 within 2 days of any transaction. A failure to file Form 4 timely must be reported in proxy statements or 10-Ks and can lead to fines.

What do you think? Would you still invest in INSP? Why or why not? Let me know!

That’s all for this week, follow us on Twitter for real-time thoughts, subscribe to our newsletter, and sign up on StockOcean for free insider buying and selling alerts.