Sectors & Industries HealthcareDrug 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...

Zen Rating Price Value Growth Financials Momentum Sentiment Forecast Dividends Due Diligence

General Drug Manufacturers is Zen Rated A and is the 5th ranked industry out of 145 stock market industries

Ticker	Company	Exchange	Industry	Market Cap	Price	1d %	EBITDA	P/E	D/E	Country
NVS	NOVARTIS AG	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$218.13B	$111.33	-1.90%	$26.42B	17.29x	1.60	Switzerland
JNJ	JOHNSON & JOHNSON	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$371.64B	$154.46	-1.18%	$34.70B	17.05x	1.48	United States
GILD	GILEAD SCIENCES INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$128.58B	$103.25	-3.09%	$4.44B	271.71x	2.06	United States
BMY	BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$100.96B	$49.61	-1.18%	$14.17B	18.51x	4.31	United States
AZN	ASTRAZENECA PLC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$218.58B	$70.51	-1.78%	$17.68B	28.15x	1.59	United Kingdom
GSK	GSK PLC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$79.21B	$38.75	-2.76%	$6.16B	19.05x	3.32	United Kingdom
LLY	ELI LILLY & CO	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$752.60B	$794.10	-11.66%	$15.43B	64.35x	4.67	United States
ABBV	ABBVIE INC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$341.31B	$193.34	-0.90%	$14.25B	80.56x	39.64	United States
BIIB	BIOGEN INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$17.72B	$120.93	-0.12%	$2.52B	11.90x	0.65	United States
GRFS	GRIFOLS SA	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$4.83B	$7.02	1.01%	$1.71B	27.42x	2.18	United States
SNY	SANOFI	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$136.67B	$54.10	-1.55%	$11.90B	23.39x	0.71	France
AMGN	AMGEN INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$152.45B	$283.78	-2.45%	$13.36B	37.24x	14.63	United States
PFE	PFIZER INC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$135.62B	$23.93	-1.97%	$15.02B	16.85x	1.42	United States
MRK	MERCK & CO INC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$210.32B	$83.26	-2.28%	$25.69B	12.32x	1.53	United States
OGN	ORGANON & CO	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$2.44B	$9.45	-26.91%	$1.60B	2.81x	26.76	United States
SCLX	SCILEX HOLDING CO	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$35.45M	$5.10	7.59%	-$66.08M	-0.26x	-1.48	United States
AMRN	AMARIN CORP PLC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$227.39M	$10.98	2.04%	-$74.18M	-2.75x	0.41	Ireland
MIRA	MIRA PHARMACEUTICALS INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$19.17M	$1.14	-1.72%	-$8.02M	-2.24x	0.33	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. Novartis Ag (NYSE:NVS)

Novartis Ag (NYSE:NVS) 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 Novartis Ag (NYSE:NVS) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Novartis Ag (NYSE:NVS) 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 NVS as a "A".

NVS passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Novartis Ag has seen its stock return 14.18% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 18 percentage points.

2. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) 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 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 2.17% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 6 percentage points.

Johnson & Johnson has an average 1 year price target of $168.08, an upside of 8.82% from Johnson & Johnson's current stock price of $154.46.

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.

3. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) 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 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 57.61% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 61 percentage points.

Gilead Sciences has an average 1 year price target of $112.11, an upside of 8.58% from Gilead Sciences's current stock price of $103.25.

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.

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 5.93%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.42%.

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 4%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.42%. 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 3.8%, which is the same as the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.42%. 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 down?

General drug manufacturer stocks were down -5.8% in the last day, and down -2.06% over the last week. Organon & Co was the among the top losers in the drug manufacturers - general industry, dropping -26.91% yesterday.

Organon shares are trading lower after the company reported Q1 financial results and cut its quarterly dividend.

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 100, which is 55 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 45. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Biogen's stock has dropped -44.05% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -41 percentage points.

2. Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) 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.

Merck & Co has a valuation score of 57, which is 12 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 45. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Merck & Co's stock has dropped -35.36% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -32 percentage points.

3. Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN)

Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN) 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.

Organon & Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 26 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 45. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Organon & Co's stock has dropped -49.81% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -46 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 55.1% over the next year.

22.22% of general drug manufacturer stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 33.33% of general drug manufacturer stocks are rated B (Buy), 33.33% 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 50.36x.

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Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes and is not advice. WallStreetZen does not bear any responsibility for any losses or damage that may occur as a result of reliance on this data.