It may also be remembered as a period that divided major perceived “winners” and “losers” of these developments—with investors rewarding drug innovators and punishing some providers of traditional treatments for diabetes and obesity. A third advantage of https://investmentsanalysis.info/ health care is that individual companies commonly enjoy massive increases in stock price based on promising clinical trials or the release of a new drug with significant potential. One important advantage of the health care sector is consistent demand.
Key Takeaways
It’s smart to pay attention to any FDA action related to medical stocks you’re watching. Cardinal Health provides healthcare products and services for hospitals, medical offices and pharmacies. Its stated goal is to reduce costs and improve safety and service quality for patients, while at the same time increasing profits.
Palantir Forecast 2024: 5 Analysts Raise PLTR Stock Price Target
Healthcare stocks—represented by the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV), an exchange-traded fund (ETF)—fell 2% over the past year, compared with a 2% increase for the Russell 1000. Total sales for Johnson & Johnson grew 3% to $24 billion with operational growth of 8% and adjusted operational growth of 8.1%. A recent AHA report showed hospitals have experienced surging costs in items and resources required to care for patients since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pros and Cons of Biogen Stock
Additionally, companies must grow and responsibly manage their money to afford an ever-increasing obligation like a growing dividend. Over the past 10 years, revenue has increased 6% annualized; earnings, 12%. The firm has strategic initiatives in play to improve results and drive costs down, including its newly launched IngenioRX, a drug benefit management platform, and LiveHealth Online, a telehealth platform.
German healthcare and agriculture conglomerate Bayer tops our list of the best healthcare stocks to buy now. Despite the heavy debt added by the Monsanto acquisition, we believe Bayer holds a sound balance sheet with low levels of risk. Shares are trading at a 62% discount relative to our $18.50 fair value estimate. If you’re curious about healthcare stocks in general, you can take a look at the healthcare index (SPXHC).
Below is a list of nine of the best-performing health care stocks in the S&P 500, ordered by one-year performance. NanoString Technologies is a healthcare company specializing in the development and distribution of cancer diagnostic tools. The company’s technology allows a wide range of basic research and translational medicine applications. In particular, it has developed new applications for its instrument system for micoRNA analysis and gene expression analysis, with the most recent launch being in2019. NanoString’s share price doubled in 2020 after a number of healthcare developments. In recent years, concerns over liabilities related to talcum powder litigation, which could cost billions of dollars, have weighed on the company.
This reputation was a disadvantage in the past year as investors favored mega-cap growth stocks (particularly those of large tech companies seen as potential plays on artificial intelligence), over defensive sectors. This year, it’s impossible to predict what stocks or segments investors may favor. But the health care sector could have a strong setup, given recent low valuations combined with new products and long-term trends that may continue to play out. While there are opportunities for strong returns within the health care sector, it is important to note that no one can predict what will happen regarding stock prices, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
Third-party sources to check are Morningstar, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Finviz.com, Investing.com, among others. Do not forget that the fund company that administers your 401(k) or 403(b) typically provides free stock investment screening tools as well. This is to be expected since the average includes data from the previous, lower priced days. As long as prices remain above the average there is strength in the market. Stock markets are volatile and can fluctuate significantly in response to company, industry, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments.
As a leading royalty acquirer, we think Royalty Pharma is in a great position to capture market tailwinds. In the healthcare division, Bayer’s strong lineup of recently launched drugs and solid exposure to biologics should support steady long-term cash flows. Bayer’s hemophilia franchise and key ophthalmology drug Eylea are biologics. While competition is increasing health care stocks in hemophilia and in eyecare, the manufacturing complexity of these drugs helps to deter generic pressure. Also, new formulations of Eylea and hemophilia drugs hold the potential to keep competition at bay. Further, strong demand for cardiovascular drug Xarelto should continue to drive growth, but the drug’s key 2026 patent loss will likely create growth headwinds.
- However, the higher risk for small companies comes with the possibility of higher rewards in terms of capital gains.
- Third-party sources to check are Morningstar, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Finviz.com, Investing.com, among others.
- We believe Illumina will continue to benefit from the rapidly expanding applications of genomic sequencing tools through its own innovation and select acquisitions.
- Most people are probably familiar with health insurance companies such as UnitedHealth Group.
- One day soon, a routine Guardant Health (GH, $77) blood test may be able to detect cancer before symptoms appear.
“That’s the biggest and most exciting part of the business,” says Kaufman, and it could open a billion-dollar market for the company. In theory, the direction of the moving average (higher, lower or flat) indicates the trend of the market. Many trading systems utilize moving averages as independent variables and market analysts frequently use moving averages to confirm technical breakouts. Views expressed are as of the date indicated, based on the information available at that time, and may change based on market or other conditions. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the speaker or author and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments or its affiliates. Get our industry-leading investment analysis, and put our research to work.