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:

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) is the #1 top healthcare stock out of 1051 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: A, 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 healthcare sector average of 27. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates BHC as a "A".It passed 2 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Bausch Health Companies has seen its stock return 1.77% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 99 percentage points.

Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PBYI) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1051 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: B, Growth: C, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

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 107.21% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 205 percentage points.

Puma Biotechnology has an average 1 year price target of $6.00, a downside of -45.05% from Puma Biotechnology's current stock price of $10.92.

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.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1051 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 Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) 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. Bioventus has seen its stock return 114.9% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 212 percentage points.

Bioventus has an average 1 year price target of $16.00, an upside of 10.96% from Bioventus's current stock price of $14.42.

Bioventus stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Bioventus, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% 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 79 healthcare stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 healthcare stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Conmed (NYSE:CNMD) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the healthcare sector average of 2.29%. Conmed's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Conmed's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Conmed's dividend payout ratio of 10.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPIX) has an annual dividend yield of 30.3%, which is 28 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.29%.

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 12.34%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.29%. 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.

Healthcare stocks were up 0.56% in the last day, and up 0.55% over the last week. Nuwellis was the among the top gainers in the healthcare sector, gaining 74.69% yesterday.

NUWE stock has given up its prior loss. Nuwellis shares were trading lower. The company announced the publication of results from a multicenter study of its Aquadex SmartFlow system, showing its use in critically ill infants and children.

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 57, which is 40 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 17. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 115.34% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 213 percentage points.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) 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.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals has a valuation score of 86, which is 69 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 17. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 48.41% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 146 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 40 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 17. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Embecta's stock has dropped -53.45% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 44 percentage points.

58.39% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 36.72% over the next year.

4.06% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.07% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 48.22% are rated C (Hold), 27.28% are rated D (Sell), and 7.36% are rated F (Strong Sell).