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 1074 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: B, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 17 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 27. It passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Bioventus has seen its stock return 1.54% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 41 percentage points.

Bioventus has an average 1 year price target of $15.00, an upside of 61.99% from Bioventus's current stock price of $9.26.

Bioventus stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Bioventus, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1074 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 Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 8 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 27. It passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Amneal Pharmaceuticals has seen its stock return 44.26% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 84 percentage points.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $15.00, an upside of 24.38% from Amneal Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $12.06.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Amneal Pharmaceuticals, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (NASDAQ:AVAH) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1074 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 Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (NASDAQ:AVAH) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (NASDAQ:AVAH) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 5 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 27. It passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings has seen its stock return 22.86% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 63 percentage points.

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings has an average 1 year price target of $10.00, an upside of 51.29% from Aveanna Healthcare Holdings's current stock price of $6.61.

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering Aveanna Healthcare Holdings, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 16.67% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 71 healthcare stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 healthcare stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Novabay Pharmaceuticals (NYSEMKT:NBY) has an annual dividend yield of 261.44%, which is 256 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 5.66%.

Novabay Pharmaceuticals's dividend payout ratio of -105.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Dominari Holdings (NASDAQ:DOMH) has an annual dividend yield of 21.45%, which is 16 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 5.66%.

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 11.23%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 5.66%. 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 162.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Healthcare stocks were down -0.33% in the last day, and up 0.17% over the last week. Wave Life Sciences was the among the top losers in the healthcare sector, dropping -49.59% yesterday.

Wave Life Sciences shares are trading lower. The company announced new data from the Phase 1 portion of its first-in-human INLIGHT trial evaluating WVE-007 in otherwise healthy individuals living with overweight or obesity.

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

Embecta's stock has dropped -29.15% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 11 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 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 115.75% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 155 percentage points.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings (NASDAQ:HRMY) 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.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings has a valuation score of 71, which is 54 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 17. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Harmony Biosciences Holdings's stock has dropped -17.37% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 22 percentage points.

59.08% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 45.83% over the next year.

5.93% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.23% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 49.2% are rated C (Hold), 23.61% are rated D (Sell), and 8.03% are rated F (Strong Sell).