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:

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) is the #1 top healthcare stock out of 1067 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 Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) is: Value: A, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) 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. Bioventus has seen its stock return 35.46% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 131 percentage points.

Bioventus has an average 1 year price target of $15.00, an upside of 72.22% from Bioventus's current stock price of $8.71.

Bioventus stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Bioventus, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1067 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 Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) is: Value: A, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) has a Due Diligence Score of 27, which is 1 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 26. It passed 9 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Jazz Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 107.56% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 203 percentage points.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $259.25, an upside of 15.4% from Jazz Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $224.66.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 analysts covering Jazz Pharmaceuticals, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 8.33% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1067 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 Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 19 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 26. It passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Exelixis has seen its stock return 27.42% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 123 percentage points.

Exelixis has an average 1 year price target of $48.00, a downside of -7.53% from Exelixis's current stock price of $51.91.

Exelixis stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Exelixis, 14.29% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 14.29% have issued a Buy, 71.43% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 76 healthcare stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 healthcare stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Cryo Cell International (NYSEMKT:CCEL) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the healthcare sector average of 2.66%.

Cryo Cell International's dividend payout ratio of -45.5% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Dominari Holdings (NASDAQ:DOMH) has an annual dividend yield of 28.93%, which is 26 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.66%.

Dominari Holdings's dividend payout ratio of -19.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) has an annual dividend yield of 14.79%, which is 12 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.66%.

Embecta's dividend payout ratio of 31.2% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Healthcare stocks were up 0.55% in the last day, and up 0.35% over the last week. Butterfly Network was the among the top gainers in the healthcare sector, gaining 55.87% yesterday.

Butterfly Network shares are trading higher after the company commented on Midjourney's announcement of Midjourney Medical and the Midjourney Scanner, a full-body tomographic imaging system.

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:

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) 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.

Embecta has a valuation score of 43, which is 29 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 14. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Embecta's stock has dropped -68.07% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 28 percentage points.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) 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.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a valuation score of 57, which is 43 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 14. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's stock has gained 406.44% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 502 percentage points.

Collegium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:COLL) 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.

Collegium Pharmaceutical has a valuation score of 43, which is 29 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 14. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Collegium Pharmaceutical's stock has gained 13.31% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 109 percentage points.

61.55% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 38.19% over the next year.

4.84% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 12.67% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 47.7% are rated C (Hold), 27.45% are rated D (Sell), and 7.33% are rated F (Strong Sell).