- Aetna's (NYSE:AET -0.7%) made a hefty move toward Apple's (AAPL -1.5%) wearables platform, and it's having ripple effects on the competition.
- Aetna's choice to subsidize Apple Watches for select employers and individual customers during this healthcare enrollment season comes along with a decision to offer the watch for free to its nearly 50,000 workers (not to mention some privacy concerns around insurers having direct access to health measurements).
- The insurer is also pushing a number of iOS exclusive health apps and associated programs for managing health.
- That deal's also a "substantial negative" for Fitbit (FIT -9.5%), says Pacific Crest's Brad Erickson, who downgraded that stock to Underweight with a fair value of $11 (shares are trading off heavily at $15.11 today).
- Erickson says checks indicate Fitbit's flagship holiday offering, the Charge 2, is off to a slow start: "Inventory is accumulating in the channel and sell-through is below initial Blaze/Alta levels."