Semler Scientific initiated with a Buy at Benchmark

Benchmark initiated coverage of Semler Scientific (SMLR) with a Buy rating and $101 price target. Semler, which spent the first 15-plus years of its existence as a specialized healthcare company focused on chronic disease detection, announced “a bold strategic pivot” in May 2024 when it adopted bitcoin (BTC) as its primary treasury reserve asset, making it only the second publicly traded U.S. company after Strategy (MSTR), whose playbook it follows to refocus its operations around the accumulation of bitcoins, the analyst noted. As of July 2, Semler had amassed about 4,636 bitcoins for $430M, which translated to an average cost of $92,753 per bitcoin, and its BTC Yield is 294%, while its valuation has lagged those of other companies that last year made bitcoin acquisition the primary focus of their corporate strategies, the analyst added.