Sectors & IndustriesHealthcareDrug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic

Best Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top pharmaceutical stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best pharmaceutical stocks to buy now. Learn More.

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 pharma stocks to buy right now are:

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) is the #1 top pharmaceutical stock out of 75 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 Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) has a Due Diligence Score of 30, which is equal to the pharmaceutical industry average of 30.

AMRX passed 10 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Amneal Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 89.69% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 107 percentage points.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $17.00, an upside of 24.82% from Amneal Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $13.62.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Amneal Pharmaceuticals, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) is the #2 top pharmaceutical stock out of 75 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 Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: A.

Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) has a Due Diligence Score of 59, which is 29 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 30.

NBIX passed 20 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Neurocrine Biosciences has seen its stock return 23.63% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 41 percentage points.

Neurocrine Biosciences has an average 1 year price target of $183.05, an upside of 24.51% from Neurocrine Biosciences's current stock price of $147.02.

Neurocrine Biosciences stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 19 analysts covering Neurocrine Biosciences, 52.63% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 31.58% have issued a Buy, 15.79% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDV) is the #3 top pharmaceutical stock out of 75 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 Indivior Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDV) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDV) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 15 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 30.

INDV passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Indivior Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 247.09% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 264 percentage points.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $48.00, an upside of 18.2% from Indivior Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $40.61.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Indivior Pharmaceuticals, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 7 pharmaceutical stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 pharmaceutical stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Siga Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA) has an annual dividend yield of 12.77%, which is 9 percentage points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 4.02%.

Siga Technologies's dividend payout ratio of 181.8% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Perrigo Co (NYSE:PRGO) has an annual dividend yield of 4.73%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 4.02%. Perrigo Co's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Perrigo Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Perrigo Co's dividend payout ratio of -8.8% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Kamada (NASDAQ:KMDA) has an annual dividend yield of 3.02%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the pharmaceutical industry average of 4.02%.

Kamada's dividend payout ratio of 57.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Pharmaceutical stocks were up 1.79% in the last day, and up 6.38% over the last week. Elanco Animal Health was the among the top gainers in the drug manufacturers - specialty & generic industry, gaining 13.88% yesterday.

Elanco Animal Health shares are trading higher after reporting better-than-expected Q1 financial results and raising its FY26 guidance above estimates.

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 pharmaceutical stocks right now are:

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) is the most undervalued pharmaceutical stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a valuation score of 71, which is 52 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 19. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 421.04% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 438 percentage points.

Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) is the second most undervalued pharmaceutical stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Collegium Pharmaceutical has a valuation score of 57, which is 38 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 19. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Collegium Pharmaceutical's stock has gained 35.07% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 52 percentage points.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) is the third most undervalued pharmaceutical stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a valuation score of 71, which is 52 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 19. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 0.13% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 18 percentage points.

47.37% of pharmaceutical stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect pharmaceutical stocks to rise by 31.53% over the next year.

12% of pharmaceutical stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 30% of pharmaceutical stocks are rated B (Buy), 46% are rated C (Hold), 12% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).