Sectors & Industries HealthcareDrug Manufacturers - General
Best General Drug Manufacturer Stocks to Buy Now (2026)
Top general drug manufacturer stocks in 2026 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
GILD	GILEAD SCIENCES INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$164.72B	$132.69	0.79%	$13.58B	19.40x	1.60	United States
BMY	BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$117.17B	$57.38	-1.44%	$13.19B	16.07x	3.31	United States
LLY	ELI LILLY & CO	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$911.54B	$967.93	0.48%	$33.17B	34.34x	2.74	United States
MRK	MERCK & CO INC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$279.36B	$113.11	0.85%	$19.40B	31.68x	1.80	United States
ABBV	ABBVIE INC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$368.06B	$208.16	0.76%	$17.36B	87.83x	-41.95	United States
SNY	SANOFI	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$105.72B	$43.35	-5.92%	$17.97B	11.38x	0.77	France
BIIB	BIOGEN INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$27.64B	$187.21	0.08%	$2.43B	20.02x	0.58	United States
AZN	ASTRAZENECA PLC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$284.18B	$183.46	-0.69%	$20.46B	27.34x	1.41	United Kingdom
GSK	GSK PLC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$102.39B	$50.90	-1.38%	$9.81B	13.02x	2.49	United Kingdom
GRFS	GRIFOLS SA	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$5.66B	$8.23	0.00%	$1.85B	12.00x	2.30	United States
JNJ	JOHNSON & JOHNSON	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$539.70B	$224.20	-1.32%	$33.71B	25.68x	1.47	United States
AMRN	AMARIN CORP PLC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$298.60M	$14.24	1.21%	-$27.75M	-8.90x	0.44	Ireland
PFE	PFIZER INC	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$149.55B	$26.30	-0.11%	$14.10B	19.20x	1.40	United States
AMGN	AMGEN INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$174.78B	$323.85	-1.81%	$16.67B	22.37x	9.07	United States
NVS	NOVARTIS AG	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$275.95B	$144.62	-1.33%	$28.03B	20.60x	2.07	Switzerland
SCLX	SCILEX HOLDING CO	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$94.68M	$11.15	5.39%	-$341.81M	-0.31x	-2.78	United States
NSRX	NASUS PHARMA LTD	NYSEMKT	Drug Manufacturers - General	$24.34M	$2.70	-1.82%	-$5.92M	-3.75x	0.81	Israel
MIRA	MIRA PHARMACEUTICALS INC	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$43.28M	$1.03	-0.96%	-$10.44M	-0.76x	0.07	United States
MDCX	MEDICUS PHARMA LTD	NASDAQ	Drug Manufacturers - General	$11.26M	$0.29	0.35%	-$35.25M	-0.10x	-148.39	United States
OGN	ORGANON & CO	NYSE	Drug Manufacturers - General	$3.48B	$13.26	-0.23%	$1.39B	14.11x	13.39	United States

General Drug Manufacturer Stocks FAQ

What are the best general drug manufacturer stocks to buy right now in May 2026?

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. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) is the #1 top general drug manufacturer stock out of 20 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: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) has a Due Diligence Score of 55, which is 19 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 36.

GILD passed 20 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Gilead Sciences has seen its stock return 29.06% over the past year, overperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by 7 percentage points.

Gilead Sciences has an average 1 year price target of $160.64, an upside of 21.06% from Gilead Sciences's current stock price of $132.69.

Gilead Sciences stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 11 analysts covering Gilead Sciences, 63.64% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 18.18% have issued a Buy, 18.18% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

2. Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) is the #2 top general drug manufacturer stock out of 20 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: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 12 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 36.

BMY passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Bristol Myers Squibb Co has seen its stock return 14.62% over the past year, underperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by -7 percentage points.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co has an average 1 year price target of $61.69, an upside of 7.51% from Bristol Myers Squibb Co's current stock price of $57.38.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 16 analysts covering Bristol Myers Squibb Co, 37.5% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 6.25% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 6.25% have issued a Strong Sell.

3. Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE:LLY)

Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE:LLY) is the #3 top general drug manufacturer stock out of 20 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 Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE:LLY) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE:LLY) has a Due Diligence Score of 62, which is 26 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 36.

LLY passed 25 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Eli Lilly & Co has seen its stock return 17.83% over the past year, underperforming other general drug manufacturer stocks by -4 percentage points.

Eli Lilly & Co has an average 1 year price target of $1,246.21, an upside of 28.75% from Eli Lilly & Co's current stock price of $967.93.

Eli Lilly & Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 19 analysts covering Eli Lilly & Co, 68.42% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 26.32% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 5.26% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

What are the general drug manufacturer stocks with highest dividends?

Out of 14 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. Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) has an annual dividend yield of 9.18%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.12%. Sanofi's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Sanofi's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Sanofi's dividend payout ratio of 58.1% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

2. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has an annual dividend yield of 4.9%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.12%. Pfizer's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Pfizer's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Pfizer's dividend payout ratio of 125.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

3. Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) has an annual dividend yield of 3.47%, which is the same as the general drug manufacturer industry average of 3.12%. Astrazeneca's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% nine times in the last 10 years. Astrazeneca's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Astrazeneca's dividend payout ratio of 62.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Why are general drug manufacturer stocks down?

General drug manufacturer stocks were down -0.28% in the last day, and up 3.88% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why general drug manufacturer stocks are down.

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 71, which is 40 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 31. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Biogen's stock has gained 53.7% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by 32 percentage points.

2. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) 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.

Gilead Sciences has a valuation score of 43, which is 12 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 31. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Gilead Sciences's stock has gained 29.06% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by 7 percentage points.

3. Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) 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.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co has a valuation score of 43, which is 12 points higher than the general drug manufacturer industry average of 31. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co's stock has gained 14.62% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the general drug manufacturer industry by -7 percentage points.

Are general drug manufacturer stocks a good buy now?

50% of general drug manufacturer stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect general drug manufacturer stocks to rise by 21.33% over the next year.

18.75% of general drug manufacturer stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 37.5% of general drug manufacturer stocks are rated B (Buy), 37.5% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 6.25% 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 32.72x.

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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.