Sectors & IndustriesHealthcare

Best Healthcare Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top healthcare stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Due Diligence Score. See the best healthcare stocks to buy now, according to analyst forecasts for the healthcare sector.

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 healthcare stocks to buy right now are:

Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) is the #1 top healthcare stock out of 1057 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 Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: A, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 21 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 27. It passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Puma Biotechnology has seen its stock return 78.28% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 174 percentage points.

Puma Biotechnology has an average 1 year price target of $6.00, a downside of -34.14% from Puma Biotechnology's current stock price of $9.11.

Puma Biotechnology stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Puma Biotechnology, 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.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1057 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 Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 23 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 27. It passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Bristol Myers Squibb Co has seen its stock return 40.92% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 136 percentage points.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co has an average 1 year price target of $67.40, an upside of 0.88% from Bristol Myers Squibb Co's current stock price of $66.81.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 11 analysts covering Bristol Myers Squibb Co, 54.55% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 45.45% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1057 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 Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: A, Sentiment: A, Safety: D, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) has a Due Diligence Score of 54, which is 27 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 27. It passed 19 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Eton Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 251.6% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 347 percentage points.

Eton Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $67.50, an upside of 11.68% from Eton Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $60.44.

Eton Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Eton Pharmaceuticals, 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.

Out of 77 healthcare stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 healthcare stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPIX) has an annual dividend yield of 22.42%, which is 20 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.18%.

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals's dividend payout ratio of -411% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Spok Holdings (NASDAQ:SPOK) has an annual dividend yield of 11.87%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.18%. Spok Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Spok Holdings's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Spok Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 207.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) has an annual dividend yield of 6.23%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.18%. Embecta's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Embecta's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Embecta's dividend payout ratio of 30.7% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Healthcare stocks were down -0.24% in the last day, and down -1.53% over the last week. Tenax Therapeutics was the among the top losers in the healthcare sector, dropping -13.62% yesterday.

Tenax Therapeutics shares are trading lower after Guggenheim downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral rating.

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 healthcare stocks right now are:

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) is the most undervalued healthcare 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 56 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 15. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 224.43% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 320 percentage points.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings (NASDAQ:HRMY) is the second most undervalued healthcare stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings has a valuation score of 57, which is 42 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 15. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings's stock has gained 6.15% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 101 percentage points.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) is the third most undervalued healthcare stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Embecta has a valuation score of 57, which is 42 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 15. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Embecta's stock has dropped -64.84% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 30 percentage points.

61.51% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 26.95% over the next year.

4.85% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 12.94% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 46.77% are rated C (Hold), 28.11% are rated D (Sell), and 7.34% are rated F (Strong Sell).