Sectors & IndustriesHealthcareDrug Manufacturers - General
Best General Drug Manufacturer Stocks to Buy Now (2025)
Top general drug manufacturer stocks in 2025 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best general drug manufacturer stocks to buy now. Learn More.

Industry: Drug Manufacturers - Gene...
A
General Drug Manufacturers is Zen Rated A and is the 7th ranked industry out of 145 stock market industries
Learn how the Zen Ratings work
Ticker
Company
Exchange
Industry
Zen Rating
Market Cap
Price
1d %
EBITDA
P/E
D/E
Country
DD Score
JNJ
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$376.09B$156.310.26%$34.70B17.25x1.48
United States
GILD
GILEAD SCIENCES INC
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$132.68B$106.542.24%$4.44B280.37x2.06
United States
BMY
BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$102.16B$50.201.99%$14.17B18.73x4.31
United States
NVS
NOVARTIS AG
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$222.36B$113.490.04%$26.42B17.62x1.60
Switzerland
AZN
ASTRAZENECA PLC
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$222.55B$71.790.11%$17.68B28.66x1.59
United Kingdom
GSK
GSK PLC
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$81.45B$39.852.26%$6.16B19.59x3.32
United Kingdom
ABBV
ABBVIE INC
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$344.42B$195.100.82%$14.25B81.29x39.64
United States
LLY
ELI LILLY & CO
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$852.36B$898.951.55%$14.45B76.44x4.54
United States
GRFS
GRIFOLS SA
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$4.78B$6.95-1.84%$1.71B27.15x2.18
United States
BIIB
BIOGEN INC
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$17.72B$121.080.76%$2.64B10.80x0.68
United States
SNY
SANOFI
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$138.82B$54.952.29%$11.90B23.76x0.71
France
PFE
PFIZER INC
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$138.34B$24.412.61%$15.02B17.19x1.42
United States
AMGN
AMGEN INC
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$156.28B$290.920.82%$13.36B38.18x14.63
United States
MRK
MERCK & CO INC
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$215.22B$85.200.58%$25.69B12.60x1.53
United States
OGN
ORGANON & CO
NYSE
Drug Manufacturers - General
$3.34B$12.93-1.75%$1.60B3.85x26.76
United States
SCLX
SCILEX HOLDING CO
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$32.95M$4.742.82%-$66.08M-0.24x-1.48
United States
AMRN
AMARIN CORP PLC
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$222.83M$10.764.16%-$74.18M-2.69x0.41
Ireland
MIRA
MIRA PHARMACEUTICALS INC
NASDAQ
Drug Manufacturers - General
$19.50M$1.163.57%-$8.02M-2.27x0.33
United States

General Drug Manufacturer Stocks FAQ

What are the best general drug manufacturer stocks to buy right now in May 2025?

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best general drug manufacturer stocks to buy right now are:

1. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)


Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is the #1 top general drug manufacturer stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: A, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 13 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 40.

JNJ passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Johnson & Johnson has seen its stock return 8.11% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 5 percentage points.

Johnson & Johnson has an average 1 year price target of $168.08, an upside of 7.53% from Johnson & Johnson's current stock price of $156.31.

Johnson & Johnson stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 analysts covering Johnson & Johnson, 16.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

2. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)


Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) is the #2 top general drug manufacturer stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) has a Due Diligence Score of 37, which is -3 points lower than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 40. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates GILD as a "A".

GILD passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Gilead Sciences has seen its stock return 63.4% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 60 percentage points.

Gilead Sciences has an average 1 year price target of $112.11, an upside of 5.22% from Gilead Sciences's current stock price of $106.54.

Gilead Sciences stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 19 analysts covering Gilead Sciences, 42.11% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 26.32% have issued a Buy, 31.58% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

3. Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY)


Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) is the #3 top general drug manufacturer stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 10 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 40.

BMY passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Bristol Myers Squibb Co has seen its stock return 14.25% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 11 percentage points.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co has an average 1 year price target of $60.00, an upside of 19.52% from Bristol Myers Squibb Co's current stock price of $50.20.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 13 analysts covering Bristol Myers Squibb Co, 23.08% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 7.69% have issued a Buy, 61.54% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 7.69% have issued a Strong Sell.

What are the general drug manufacturer stocks with highest dividends?

Out of 11 general drug manufacturer stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 general drug manufacturer stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

1. Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN)


Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN) has an annual dividend yield of 4.33%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.24%.

Organon & Co's dividend payout ratio of 25% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

2. Gsk (NYSE:GSK)


Gsk (NYSE:GSK) has an annual dividend yield of 3.89%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.24%. Gsk's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% nine times in the last 10 years. Gsk's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Gsk's dividend payout ratio of 76.2% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

3. Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK)


Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) has an annual dividend yield of 3.71%, which is the same as the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.24%. Merck & Co's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Merck & Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Merck & Co's dividend payout ratio of 46.2% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Why are general drug manufacturer stocks up?

General drug manufacturer stocks were up 1.17% in the last day, and up 6.08% over the last week. Gsk was the among the top gainers in the drug manufacturers - general industry, gaining 2.26% yesterday.

GSK shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 financial results and raised its FY25 adjusted EPS guidance. Also, the company raised its FY25 sales guidance above estimates.

What are the most undervalued general drug manufacturer stocks?

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued general drug manufacturer stocks right now are:

1. Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)


Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) is the most undervalued general drug manufacturer stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Biogen has a valuation score of 86, which is 42 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 44. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Biogen's stock has dropped -43.64% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -47 percentage points.

2. Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN)


Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN) is the second most undervalued general drug manufacturer stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Organon & Co has a valuation score of 57, which is 13 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 44. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Organon & Co's stock has dropped -30.52% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -34 percentage points.

3. Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK)


Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) is the third most undervalued general drug manufacturer stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Merck & Co has a valuation score of 57, which is 13 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 44. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Merck & Co's stock has dropped -34.07% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -37 percentage points.

Are general drug manufacturer stocks a good buy now?

46.15% of general drug manufacturer stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect general drug manufacturer stocks to rise by 45.4% over the next year.

16.67% of general drug manufacturer stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 33.33% of general drug manufacturer stocks are rated B (Buy), 38.89% are rated C (Hold), 11.11% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).

What is the average p/e ratio of the drug manufacturers - general industry?

The average P/E ratio of the drug manufacturers - general industry is 54.95x.
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