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:

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) is the #1 top healthcare stock out of 1082 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: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 14 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 26. It passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 35.26% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 86 percentage points.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $6.50, an upside of 26.46% from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $5.14.

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.

Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1082 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 Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) has a Due Diligence Score of 20, which is -6 points lower than the healthcare sector average of 26. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates VREX as a "A".It passed 6 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Varex Imaging has seen its stock return 3.23% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 54 percentage points.

Varex Imaging has an average 1 year price target of $16.67, an upside of 18.37% from Varex Imaging's current stock price of $14.08.

Varex Imaging stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Varex Imaging, 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.

Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1082 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 Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 18 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 26. It passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Pediatrix Medical Group has seen its stock return 39.85% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 90 percentage points.

Pediatrix Medical Group has an average 1 year price target of $21.33, an upside of 3.91% from Pediatrix Medical Group's current stock price of $20.53.

Pediatrix Medical Group stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Pediatrix Medical Group, 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.

Out of 70 healthcare stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 healthcare stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Dominari Holdings (NASDAQ:DOMH) has an annual dividend yield of 23.51%, which is 21 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.16%.

Dominari Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 8.4% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Spok Holdings (NASDAQ:SPOK) has an annual dividend yield of 9.29%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.16%. 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 154.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Oramed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORMP) has an annual dividend yield of 7.18%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.16%.

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

Healthcare stocks were down -0.46% in the last day, and up 0.7% over the last week. Cardiff Oncology was the among the top losers in the healthcare sector, dropping -31.97% yesterday.

Cardiff Oncology shares are trading lower after CEO Mark Erlander And CFO James Levine stepped down. The company announced an update from CRDF-004.

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:

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) 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.

Bausch Health Companies has a valuation score of 57, which is 39 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 18. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Bausch Health Companies's stock has dropped -26.38% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 24 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 71, which is 53 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 18. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings's stock has dropped -1.49% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 49 percentage points.

Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN) 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.

Organon & Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 53 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 18. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Organon & Co's stock has dropped -44.65% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 6 percentage points.

57.48% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 33.54% over the next year.

7.74% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.33% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 46.19% are rated C (Hold), 25% are rated D (Sell), and 7.74% are rated F (Strong Sell).