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:

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) 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 Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 11 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 29.

IRWD passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 139% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 167 percentage points.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $6.50, an upside of 35.98% from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $4.78.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, 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.

Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) 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 Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 15 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 29.

COLL passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Collegium Pharmaceutical has seen its stock return 52.44% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 80 percentage points.

Collegium Pharmaceutical has an average 1 year price target of $55.00, an upside of 19.31% from Collegium Pharmaceutical's current stock price of $46.10.

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

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) 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 Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) has a Due Diligence Score of 34, which is 5 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 29.

AMRX passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Amneal Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 90.63% over the past year, overperforming other pharmaceutical stocks by 118 percentage points.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $14.00, a downside of -7.83% from Amneal Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $15.19.

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.

Out of 5 pharmaceutical stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 pharmaceutical stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Viatris (NASDAQ:VTRS) has an annual dividend yield of 3.05%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 1.9%. Viatris's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Viatris's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Viatris's dividend payout ratio of -15.5% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Kamada (NASDAQ:KMDA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.2%, which is the same as the pharmaceutical industry average of 1.9%.

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

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) has an annual dividend yield of 1.62%, which is the same as the pharmaceutical industry average of 1.9%. Zoetis's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Zoetis's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Zoetis's dividend payout ratio of 33.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Pharmaceutical stocks were up 1.04% in the last day, and down -0.27% over the last week.

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

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:

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) 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.

Bausch Health Companies has a valuation score of 57, which is 33 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 24. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Bausch Health Companies's stock has dropped -2.67% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 25 percentage points.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) 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.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a valuation score of 57, which is 33 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 24. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 139% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 167 percentage points.

Pacira Biosciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) 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.

Pacira Biosciences has a valuation score of 43, which is 19 points higher than the pharmaceutical industry average of 24. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Pacira Biosciences's stock has dropped -12.93% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the pharmaceutical industry by 15 percentage points.

55% of pharmaceutical stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect pharmaceutical stocks to rise by 42.63% over the next year.

22.81% of pharmaceutical stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 14.04% of pharmaceutical stocks are rated B (Buy), 45.61% are rated C (Hold), 14.04% are rated D (Sell), and 3.51% are rated F (Strong Sell).