01:49 PM EDT, 09/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- IQVIA Holdings' ( IQV ) share price increasingly appears ready to rise, with the clinical research organization expected to soon report improved per-share earnings, boosting investor sentiment and eventually lifting its valuation back near its historical average, RBC Capital analysts Markets said in a note Wednesday.

IQVIA ( IQV ) has battled multiple headwinds since early 2022, RBC said, blunting its financial performance as research and development spending by the company's biopharma customer base slowed while creating lofty comparisons for the company to match as the COVID-19 pandemic faded. Those difficulties were also reflected by the company's stock price, with IQVIA ( IQV ) shares lagging the rise for the broader S&P 500 over the same span, the analysts said.

"Looking ahead, the skies are brighter," the RBC analysts wrote. They see IQVIA's ( IQV ) per-share earnings growing in low double percentage digits from its current range of low single digit growth, with that advance supported by the recent recovery in biotech funding and R&D spending they see continuing into 2025.

IQVIA ( IQV ) has other advantages that should help it outpace its peers, RBC analysts said in new coverage assigning an outperform rating and a $275 price target for the company's stock. The company already boasts atop one of the largest collections of health care data, with patient records from more than 150,000 different suppliers, and it has been investing aggressively in new technology that RBC expects will unlock "valuable insights" from that data.

"IQV has an unmatched combination of scale and quality of data that is used in effectively all aspects of the business," the RBC analyst said, later adding, "the data serves as the foundation for all automation and next-generation AI efforts."

Price: 246.52, Change: -2.29, Percent Change: -0.92