That stem looks perfect to me. Older hoyas have a tendency to have thicker, woodier looking stems. Your plant likely propagated as a cutting from an older plant which is good news!

Here are some pictures of one of my obovatas. This one was a cutting from a very very old and enormous plant.

And just to show woody stem on another hoya. These are stems on my 30-year old carnosa. See they are also very "woody".

And yes, you can expect new growth from the woody stem although it may take a while. My obovata cutting sat for nearly a year before it put out a new leaf. All the other leaves suddenly got larger too. Then it put out this huge new leaf which is quite shiny.

Here's a picture of the mother plant.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5982068/my-friend-s-obovata-is-in-bloom#n=2

This woody stem means you have a good strong specimen. (As opposed to something younger, newer, weaker.) Your hoya will become even more beautiful over time. Cheers!

Popmama what do you have your Hoya planted in?? It looks happy

The obovata is planted in a chunky mix that is relatively fast-draining. I make it myself based on a lot of information I gleaned from other hoya heads. It's about 1/3 good quality potting soil, 1/3 smaller orchid bark, 1/3 perlite and a dash of horticultural charcoal.

I don't love the way the perlite looks on the top of that one. I'm sure some nice top-dress gravel would look better. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow!

🙏 thanks!