Fishbone Advisors Survey: Institutional Investors See Healthcare's AI Story as Overblown

Quarterly survey of 75 institutional investors active in healthcare delivers the first published, investor-assigned AI scores for 30 large-cap healthcare companies; Eli Lilly, UnitedHealth and Moderna lead

Study highlights:

• In every healthcare subsector, 48% to 67% of investors say management overemphasizes AI relative to its actual financial contribution
• Investors do not see AI as a material valuation driver in any subsector, a result that held on retest six months later
• Healthcare specialists are the least persuaded: 33% expect AI to significantly influence valuations within three years, versus 51% of generalist investors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fishbone Advisors, a capital markets intelligence firm, today released a new report showing that healthcare's AI narrative has a credibility problem with institutional investors. In every healthcare subsector, roughly half to two-thirds of investors (48% to 67%) agree that management overemphasizes AI relative to its actual financial contribution, the most consistent finding in “Hallucinating Value: Healthcare's AI Narrative.”

The findings come from the Fishbone Healthcare Benchmarking Study, a quarterly tracking study that has measured institutional investor sentiment across healthcare since August 2025, now in its fourth wave. This wave focuses on AI, including the first published, investor-assigned AI scores for 30 large-cap companies. Eli Lilly leads the scoreboard at +78, with investors crediting AI tied directly to its obesity and diabetes franchise. UnitedHealth (+72), Moderna (+64), IQVIA (+63) and Illumina (+62) follow.

Central to the report, AI has yet to register as a material valuation driver in any healthcare subsector, a reading unchanged on retest six months later even as AI enthusiasm re-rated much of the broader market. Asked whether AI will significantly influence valuations within three years, investors diverge sharply by subsector. Biotechnology runs highest at 66%, medical equipment lowest at 20%, and payers and providers moved most over the six-month period, falling 14 points to 34%.

“The instinct in every boardroom right now is to say more about AI. The feedback we’re getting from large institutional investors indicates the opposite: say less and prove more. Investors reward the specifics of one well-evidenced program over ten ambitions, and the bar is set by the industry experts who drive sentiment on these stocks,” said Geoff Serednesky, Founder of Fishbone Advisors and author of the report.

The AI story lands very differently depending on who is listening. A slim majority of generalist investors, 51%, expect AI to significantly influence healthcare valuations within three years, versus only one-third of healthcare specialists, 33%. The investors who know the sector best are the least persuaded, and an AI case built to meet the expert bar loses nothing with generalists.

Additional findings from the June 2026 wave include:

• Investors read AI as a tide lifting nearly every boat, but unevenly. Twenty-seven of the 30 rated companies score net positive, yet recognition concentrates sharply among a small group of perceived leaders with proprietary data and named programs.
• Perceived overemphasis runs strongest exactly where expectations run highest. Biotechnology records both the highest expected AI influence, 66%, and the highest agreement that management overstates AI's contribution, 67%.
• The skepticism is not souring the sector: 81% of surveyed investors say they are positive on healthcare over the coming year, notwithstanding the sector's recent underperformance relative to the broader market, a gap some view as a potential entry point.

The study draws on a proprietary, Fishbone-managed panel recruited and screened for sector expertise. The June 2026 wave, conducted between June 4 and June 12, 2026, surveyed 75 institutional investors (76% long-only, 15% hedge fund, 9% sell-side; median equity assets under management of $1.9 billion), supplemented by in-depth investor interviews.

The full report includes the complete 30-company AI scoreboard and detailed recommendations for each of the five subsectors covered: Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences Tools & Services, Healthcare Payers & Providers, and Healthcare Equipment & Supplies. It is available at reports.fishboneadvisors.com.

About Fishbone Advisors

Fishbone is a boutique, data-driven market intelligence firm that helps public and private clients navigate the investment community through critical events (M&A, IPOs, spin-offs, shareholder activism) and ongoing investor engagement. Through its Capital Markets Intelligence practice, the firm delivers independent, objective insights across every sector and market cap. Fishbone's quarterly Healthcare Benchmarking Study tracks investor sentiment KPIs for 30 large-cap companies across five healthcare subsectors.