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:

Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) is the #1 top healthcare stock out of 1081 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 51.92% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 105 percentage points.

Pediatrix Medical Group has an average 1 year price target of $21.33, a downside of -1.74% from Pediatrix Medical Group's current stock price of $21.71.

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.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) is the #2 top healthcare stock out of 1081 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: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Bioventus (NASDAQ:BVS) has a Due Diligence Score of 30, which is 4 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 26. It passed 10 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Bioventus has seen its stock lose -19.35% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 33 percentage points.

Bioventus has an average 1 year price target of $13.00, an upside of 55.13% from Bioventus's current stock price of $8.38.

Bioventus stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst 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.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) is the #3 top healthcare stock out of 1081 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: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

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 139% over the past year, overperforming other healthcare stocks by 192 percentage points.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has an average 1 year price target of $6.50, an upside of 35.98% from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals's current stock price of $4.78.

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.

Out of 68 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 29.06%, which is 27 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.26%.

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 9.1%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.26%. 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 7.81%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the healthcare sector average of 2.26%.

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 up 0.81% in the last day, and down -0.2% over the last week. Polaryx Therapeutics was the among the top gainers in the healthcare sector, gaining 64.32% yesterday.

Polaryx shares are trading higher after the company announced it selected a contract research organization for SOTERIA to evaluate PLX-200, across four different LSDs.

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 68 points higher than the healthcare sector average of 18. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Embecta's stock has dropped -32.88% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 20 percentage points.

Nutex Health (NASDAQ:NUTX) 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.

Nutex Health 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.

Nutex Health's stock has gained 53.58% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the healthcare sector by 106 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 -52.97% in the past year. It has performed in line with other stocks in the healthcare sector.

57.82% of healthcare stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect healthcare stocks to rise by 39.3% over the next year.

6.59% of healthcare stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 12.93% of healthcare stocks are rated B (Buy), 46.95% are rated C (Hold), 25.03% are rated D (Sell), and 8.5% are rated F (Strong Sell).