AI health stocks and a strike
The Motley Fool flagged small AI health‑tech firms as potential outperformers versus big tech in the near term, spotlighting fast growth opportunities in clinical and wellness AI. (fool.com) At the same time, over 25,000 mental health workers staged a one‑day strike protesting AI replacing roles in therapy and support—a reminder of the sector’s disruption risk. (futurism.com)
Motley Fool’s piece by Robert Izquierdo on March 22, 2026, singled out Symbotic, Fastly and Astera Labs as smaller AI-linked stocks its analysts predict could outperform larger tech names. (fool.com) Symbotic reported fiscal Q1 2026 revenue of $630 million for the quarter ended Dec. 27, 2025, a roughly 29% year‑over‑year increase, and turned to GAAP net income of about $13 million after a prior‑year loss. (globeandmail.com) Symbotic is expanding a multi‑year commercialization program with Walmart that builds on deployments across Walmart’s 42 regional distribution centers and an agreement tied to hundreds of Accelerated Pickup and Delivery sites. (supplychaindive.com (symbotic.com)) Fastly reported record fourth‑quarter 2025 revenue of $172.6 million (up ~23% year over year) and full‑year 2025 revenue of about $624.0 million, with management calling 2025 the company’s first profitable fiscal year on a non‑GAAP basis. (businesswire.com ) Astera Labs posted a record Q4 2025 revenue of $270.6 million and full‑year 2025 revenue of $852.5 million, an approximately 115% year‑over‑year gain as the company ramps production of its Scorpio X‑Series connectivity products. (asteralabs.com ) About 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental‑health clinicians staged a one‑day unfair‑labor‑practice strike in Northern California on March 18, 2026, and the action was joined by more than 23,000 Kaiser nurses in a sympathy walkout. (kqed.org (abcnews.com ) Union leaders with the National Union of Healthcare Workers said management has proposed contract language that would make layoffs easier and pushed to remove licensed clinician triage—clinicians say triage screenings are increasingly handled by unlicensed staff, scripted e‑visits or apps—while Kaiser says it does not use AI to make care decisions and has invested nearly $2 billion in California mental‑health expansion since 2020. (kqed.org (futurism.com)
