A new report from Reuters is fueling speculation that healthcare payment software maker Waystar is exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale that could take the company private.
Citing seven sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported Tuesday that the company is exploring options. The company hired investment bank Evercore to advise on the process, Reuters reported, citing two people speaking on condition of anonymity. The process is in an early stage, Reuters reported, with sources telling the media outlet that plans could change and a sale may not materialize.
Waystar declined to comment on the report. Reuters did not report a potential transaction price or valuation for a sale.
Waystar's pre-market stock surged over 16% Tuesday morning after the report. The company's shares were up 11% mid-morning on Tuesday.
Waystar went public two years ago, but the stock has been under pressure, driven by broader sector sell-offs over artificial intelligence disruption fears. The company's market value is about $4.8 billion after the stock has fallen 24% this year, according to media reports.
Reuters cited a July Morgan Stanley report that said investors are increasingly concerned advances in AI could disrupt software companies. But the company's operations remain resilient with strong revenue growth and rapid provider adoption of its AI-powered revenue cycle management tools.
Waystar provides healthcare payment and revenue cycle management tools to 30,000 clients, representing over 1 million distinct providers, and its platform processes over 7.5 billion healthcare payment transactions annually. Its solutions prevented $15.5 billion in denials in 2025, with a $2.4 billion reimbursement impact.
In the second quarter, the company brought in $319.7 million in revenue, up 18% from the same period a year ago. It beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates of $316.3 million. Waystar reported net income of $40.9 million and GAAP net income per share of 21 cents. The company also reported adjusted EBITDA of $136.7 million.
Waystar boosted its forecast for 2026, raising its revenue guidance to between $1.28 billion and $1.29 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $535 million and $545 million.
The company was formed in 2017 by the merger of revenue cycle management companies Navicure and ZirMed. In 2019, Swedish global investment firm EQT Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board bought a majority stake in Waystar, valuing the healthcare technology company at $2.7 billion. Bain Capital retained a minority stake in the company. Those backers took the company public in 2024.
EQT remains the company's largest shareholder with a 13% stake, followed by CPPIB with 10% and BlackRock Institutional Trust Company with 8%, according to LSEG data, Reuters reported.
With reports on Waystar sales talks, Wall Street analysts point to the company's M&A appeal.
"While surprising today, it makes sense to us that WAY’s management would seek to maximize shareholder value," Elizabeth Anderson, healthcare equity research analyst at Evercore ISI, wrote in an analyst note. "With the stock down ~24% YTD, it may have been less appreciated in the public markets than its intrinsic value."
A year ago, Waystar bought AI-driven RCM company Iodine Software in a $1.25 billion deal to build a fully autonomous revenue cycle in healthcare, executives said.
Ryan Daniels, healthcare services and technology analyst at William Blair & Company, noted that private equity investor Advent International's position as Iodine's largest shareholders could shape the pricing in a potential Waystar sale.
Advent International received Waystar shares through the Iodine acquisition at roughly $37 per share. "We believe Advent would need approximately low/mid-$30 share deal in this potential transaction to be 'cleared'," Daniels wrote in an analyst note.
"Moreover, we note over the course of 2025 the company completed three separate secondary transactions worth approximately $2.2 billion, with shares priced in a range of $38.75 to $40.00. Lastly, at an intraday price of just under $27, the stock trades at 11x our 2027 EBITDA estimate, representing near-trough multiples for shares," Daniels wrote.
William Blair analysts also cautioned about potential risks including slower-than-expected Iodine integration and synergy realization, healthcare transaction volume softness, increased competition from electronic health record-embedded RCM solutions and execution risk on the AI platform roadmap.