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 1048 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: C, 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 91.3% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 169 percentage points.

Puma Biotechnology has an average 1 year price target of $6.00, a downside of -40.71% from Puma Biotechnology's current stock price of $10.12.

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.

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1048 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: C.

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 lose -3.6% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 74 percentage points.

Bausch Health Companies has an average 1 year price target of $9.00, an upside of 52.8% from Bausch Health Companies's current stock price of $5.89.

Bausch Health Companies stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst 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.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1048 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 106.39% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 184 percentage points.

Bioventus has an average 1 year price target of $16.00, an upside of 17.99% from Bioventus's current stock price of $13.56.

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 2.25%. 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 20.92%, which is 19 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.25%.

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 11.52%, which is 9 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.25%. 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 down -1.35% in the last day, and down -0.79% over the last week. Syndax Pharmaceuticals was the among the top losers in the healthcare sector, dropping -15.71% yesterday.

Syndax Pharmaceuticals shares are trading lower after the company announced that the MAXPIRe Phase 2 trial of axatilimab in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis did not meet its primary endpoint of the annualized rate of decline in forced vital capacity.

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

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 142.57% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 220 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 55.68% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 133 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 -53.56% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 24 percentage points.

59.17% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 40.26% over the next year.

4.04% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.26% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 48.61% are rated C (Hold), 27.4% are rated D (Sell), and 6.69% are rated F (Strong Sell).