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 +28.50% 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:

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) 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 +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) has a Due Diligence Score of 6, which is -21 points lower than the pharmaceutical industry average of 27. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates BHC as a "A".

BHC passed 2 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Bausch Health Companies has seen its stock return 11.42% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 50 percentage points.

Bausch Health Companies has an average 1 year price target of $8.00, an upside of 24.22% from Bausch Health Companies's current stock price of $6.44.

Bausch Health Companies stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Bausch Health Companies, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDV) 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 +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Indivior Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDV) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INDV) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 20 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 27.

INDV passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Indivior Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 72.01% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 111 percentage points.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $46.00, an upside of 26.03% from Indivior Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $36.50.

Indivior Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Indivior 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.

Pacira Biosciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) 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 +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Pacira Biosciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Pacira Biosciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 17 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 27.

PCRX passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Pacira Biosciences has seen its stock return 20.4% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 59 percentage points.

Pacira Biosciences has an average 1 year price target of $29.75, an upside of 7.71% from Pacira Biosciences's current stock price of $27.62.

Pacira Biosciences stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Pacira Biosciences, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 9 pharmaceutical stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 pharmaceutical stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPIX) has an annual dividend yield of 38.61%, which is 30 percentage points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 8.7%.

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals's dividend payout ratio of 0% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Siga Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA) has an annual dividend yield of 18.52%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 8.7%.

Siga Technologies's dividend payout ratio of 206.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Perrigo Co (NYSE:PRGO) has an annual dividend yield of 8.07%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the pharmaceutical industry average of 8.7%. 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.

Pharmaceutical stocks were down -0.17% in the last day, and down -2.5% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why pharmaceutical stocks are down.

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 86, which is 69 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 17. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 474.67% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 514 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 43, which is 26 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 17. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Collegium Pharmaceutical's stock has gained 14.92% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 54 percentage points.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) 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.

Zoetis has a valuation score of 29, which is 12 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 17. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Zoetis's stock has dropped -49.91% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by -11 percentage points.

51.35% of pharmaceutical stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect pharmaceutical stocks to rise by 38.43% over the next year.

13.21% of pharmaceutical stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 20.75% of pharmaceutical stocks are rated B (Buy), 33.96% are rated C (Hold), 28.3% are rated D (Sell), and 3.77% are rated F (Strong Sell).