Latest news with #DavidJagielski
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Relatively Safe Healthcare Growth Stocks You Can Buy and Hold
When the stock market is highly volatile, many investors flock to assets that offer stability but dismal growth prospects. However, you don't necessarily have to sacrifice growth for safety. Three contributors believe they've identified relatively safe growth stocks in the healthcare sector that you can buy and hold. Here's why they picked Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX). Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » David Jagielski (Amgen): Given the fragility of the markets of late, investors should be paying close attention to valuations, especially for growth stocks. Drugmaker Amgen may be an optimal one to be hanging on to right now, due to the strong mix of value, growth, and dividends it offers. The stock trades at a modest 14 times its estimated future earnings (based on analyst expectations). It pays a dividend that yields 3.3%, and it has a diverse business with some promising long-term growth prospects. It has dozens of phase 3 trials currently ongoing, spanning multiple therapeutic areas, including neuroscience, inflammation, oncology, and others. One drug that investors are watching particularly closely is MariTide, a GLP-1 treatment for obesity that in a phase 2 trial helped participants lose 20% of their body weight. It only needs to be taken on a monthly basis, which can make it a much more attractive option for patients than the weekly GLP-1 injections currently approved on the market. In 2024, Amgen reported $4 billion of profit on sales totaling $33.4 billion, for a solid profit margin of 12%. It also generated free cash flow totaling $10.4 billion. Year to date, the biotech stock has risen by more than 12% and has been outperforming the broader market. That's a trend that could continue in the future, given its strong growth prospects and fundamentals. Prosper Junior Bakiny (Eli Lilly): Due to President Trump's macroeconomic policies, major indices have declined significantly this year. It might be hard to consider any stock "safe" in this environment, but some corporations, like Eli Lilly, seem relatively safe for those focused on the long game. Eli Lilly's revenue has been growing at no less than 20% year over year since mid-2023, which is outstanding for a pharmaceutical giant. Though it owes this performance to its diabetes and weight management medicines, it would be a mistake to reduce Eli Lilly to these areas -- important though they may be. In the past few years, the drugmaker has earned approvals for key medicines in other fields that will help drive top-line growth for a while. These include Kisunla in Alzheimer's disease; Ebglyss, an eczema treatment; and ulcerative colitis therapy Omvoh. Further, Eli Lilly has an incredibly deep pipeline. Yes, here too, the company's work in diabetes and anti-obesity is grabbing much of the attention. But once again, Eli Lilly's business goes beyond that. The company is making strides in oncology, while its early-stage investigational gene therapy for deafness looks promising. Eli Lilly should maintain strong financial results and its excellent dividend program even in this shaky environment. The pharmaceutical leader has increased its payouts by 200% in the past decade. Growth- and income-oriented investors will find what they seek here, even as broader equities continue to drop. If anything, now is as good a time as ever to initiate a position in Eli Lilly. Keith Speights (Vertex Pharmaceuticals): Most biotech stocks are anything but safe. However, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is an exception. The company commands a virtual monopoly in treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF). Vertex is a cash cow, raking in $11 billion in sales last year. Even better, though, this big biotech innovator has multiple growth drivers. One of those growth drivers is in Vertex's core CF market. The company won U.S. regulatory approval of Alyftrek in December 2024. Alyftrek is as effective as Vertex's top-selling CF drug, Trikafta, with a more convenient once-daily dosing. Vertex also doesn't have to pay as much in royalties on the new drug as it does on its older CF therapies. I'm even more bullish about Vertex's opportunities beyond CF, though. Momentum is picking up for its gene-editing therapy, Casgevy. Vertex recently launched non-opioid painkiller Journavx, which I predict will easily become another blockbuster drug for the company. More good news could be on the way over the next few years, too. Vertex's pipeline features four programs in phase 3 clinical testing. The company hopes to pick up a new indication for Journavx in treating painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. It has two experimental drugs targeting kidney diseases: inaxaplin for APOL1-mediated kidney disease, and povetacicept for IgA nephropathy. Vertex is also evaluating zimislecel in late-stage testing as a potential cure for several kinds of type 1 diabetes. Maybe some of these candidates will be unsuccessful. Even if that's the case, though, Vertex is a relatively safe growth stock to buy and hold thanks to its already approved therapies' strong growth prospects. Before you buy stock in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Vertex Pharmaceuticals wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $532,771!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $593,970!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 781% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 149% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights has positions in Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Eli Lilly and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amgen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Relatively Safe Healthcare Growth Stocks You Can Buy and Hold was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Relatively Safe Stocks to Buy Right Now
Investing in stocks comes with risks. There's no way around that fact. However, some stocks can be less risky than others during certain market conditions. Three Motley Fool contributors think they've found relatively safe stocks to buy right now with major market indexes remaining near correction territory. Here's why they like Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). David Jagielski (Abbott Laboratories): If you're looking for safety within the healthcare sector, a top name to consider right now is Abbott Laboratories. It's a good stock to put in your portfolio that you won't have to worry about. For starters, it offers an above-average dividend yield of 1.9% (the S&P 500 average is 1.4%). Abbott has increased its dividend for 53 consecutive years. Not only can you collect a dependable dividend with this stock, but it's also likely to grow over the years as Abbott's sales and profits rise. The big reason it makes for a stable and safe investment is because its operations are highly diverse. Last year, Abbott generated $19 billion in sales from medical devices, $9 billion from diagnostics, $8 billion from nutritional sales, and $5 billion from its established pharmaceuticals segment. Collectively, these segments make Abbott a fairly safe investment to hold on to. While its diagnostic sales were down 7% last year, largely due to higher COVID testing demand in the previous year, all of the company's other business units generated positive year-over-year growth, with the end result being an overall company growth rate of just under 5% for the full year. Shares of Abbott have risen by more than 80% over the past five years and with a modest price-to-earnings multiple of 17, it's still a good value buy. Its modest beta value of 0.69 also tells investors this isn't a highly volatile stock in relation to the markets. If you want a good, safe healthcare stock to hold, with a great dividend, Abbott can make for a no-brainer buy right now. Keith Speights (AbbVie): Big pharmaceutical companies don't have exclusivity forever for the drugs they invest heavily in developing. Eventually, those drugs lose patent protection and can experience significant sales declines as new rivals enter the market. But few have faced as scary a patent cliff as AbbVie and handled it so effectively. When AbbVie spun off from Abbott in 2013, the writing was already on the wall for its autoimmune disease drug Humira losing exclusivity. Not only did Humira rank as AbbVie's top-selling product, generating 65% of the company's total revenue by 2017, but it also ranked as the top-selling drug in the world for several years. AbbVie felt the pain when Humira began to face biosimilar competition in the U.S. in 2023. However, the company already had two successor products on the market with Skyrizi and Rinvoq. AbbVie now projects these two autoimmune disease drugs will rake in combined sales of $24 billion this year and more than $31 billion by 2027. At its peak, Humira's sales totaled $21.2 billion. I think investors can sleep peacefully at night owning shares of AbbVie. The company has proven its ability to navigate challenges. Patients will need its medications regardless of what happens with the economy. AbbVie is also a Dividend King with 53 consecutive years of dividend increases and an attractive forward dividend yield of 3.25%. Prosper Junior Bakiny (Johnson & Johnson): It might seem odd to describe Johnson & Johnson as a "safe" stock right now. The pharmaceutical giant is still dealing with thousands of lawsuits related to its talc-based products, while regulatory changes in the U.S. threaten to eat into its sales growth for some products. However, Johnson & Johnson still boasts a AAA rating -- the highest available -- from Standard & Poor's, which is robust evidence of the strength of its balance sheet. Meanwhile, the company still generates consistent revenue and earnings. The drugmaker's top line in 2024 increased by 4.3% year over year to $88.8 billion, while its earnings per share grew by 11.3% year over year to $5.79. Johnson & Johnson continues to develop newer medicines that will help it drive strong top-line growth for years and move beyond recent (and future) patent cliffs. One of the company's most exciting recent approvals is Carvykti, a cancer medicine closing in on blockbuster status. In 2024, Carvykti's sales grew by 92.7% year over year to $963 million. Several older products, such as immunosuppressant Tremfya, continue to contribute, too. Further, Johnson & Johnson has a medtech business whose sales grew slightly faster than those of its pharmaceutical medicine segment last year. Johnson & Johnson could be close to a settlement that would put the overwhelming majority of its talc lawsuits to rest. The company's deep pipeline within its medtech and pharmaceutical businesses should help it maintain strong results despite recent regulatory changes. Lastly, Johnson & Johnson is a Dividend King with 62 consecutive years of payout increases. Those worried about a recession -- or income-seekers with a long-term mindset -- can safely opt for this reliable blue chip dividend payer. Before you buy stock in AbbVie, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AbbVie wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $682,965!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 842% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 165% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of March 24, 2025 David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights has positions in AbbVie. Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie and Abbott Laboratories. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Relatively Safe Stocks to Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
