Investors are always keen to jump into pharmacy stocks.
The global pharmaceutical market is as wide as the sea. We have companies with large, middle, and small caps that have massive potential in their specific range. The global pharma industry makes more than $1.2 trillion in sales each year. Now, that’s a huge marketplace, and it creates massive opportunities for investors in the long-term—in specific.
With the global pandemic prolonging, the world doesn’t know what’s coming up next. But one thing is for sure that the health crisis has created another pharma segment—in the shape of the vaccine.
Every big pharma company has tried its luck in vaccine development and many have been successful in the initial stages and some in the final. In that premise, we can see pharmaceutical stocks having a big upside in the long run.
However, with the global crises, nothing can be taken for granted, especially the stock market. Looking at the pharmacy stocks, here are the three best in the market.
AbbVie (ABBV)
In last decade, AbbVie (ABBV) has developed into a giant in the market being one of the finest biopharma’s. CNBC’s Mad Money host and the market guru, Jim Cramer recently passed some comments regarding AbbVie. Cramer said:
“AbbVie (ABBV) is a bargain.”
People are not using Botox as they used to, but Cramer finds its migraine franchise amazing.
AbbVie has grown as a dividend titan in the industry. The company has a dividend of $1.3 per share, with a yield of 4.98%. This is more than double compared tothe Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s yield of 2.35% and the S&P 500’s yield of 1.47%. Over the last ten years, the drugmaker has raised its current annualized dividend to 10.2% to $5.20.
Moreover, AbbVie’s earnings growth looks solid for the current fiscal year. As per Zacks, the company is anticipated to record $12.17 per share in 2021, which reflects an increase of 15.25% year-over-year.
Biogen (BIIB)
Biogen (BIIB) is leading biotech firm that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical treatments. The company strongly remains committed to the fields of neurology, immunology, and oncology.
Biogen has a pending application at the US FDA whose fate is yet to be decided by the regulatory body. The FDA is undergoing Biogen’s investigational Alzheimer’s drug. Investors see this as a critical and turning point for the company. The approval of aducanumab for the company would do wonders in the long-term growth. Why? Because generic competition is eroding Biogen’s billion-dollar multiple sclerosis businesses.
With the potential approval of aducanumab, Biogen would surely make megabucks. As per Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s. However, Biogen’s product is lagging some data, which is making the FDA take longer to decide. The regulatory body now must issue a decision by June 7. Till then keep following Biogen, it could be a massive win or big loss.
Novartis (NVS)
The Swiss pharma titan, Novartis (NVS) could be a decent bet in the near-term. The company has been involved in a couple of developments, lately.
On Feb 11., Reuters reported that the Swiss drugmaker’s generics division is buying a GlaxoSmithKline antibiotics business which includes GSK’s brands Zinacef, Fortum, and Zinnat. The deal is expected to be worth $500 million.
According to GSK, these three brands that are part of the deal made $140 million in sales across relevant markets in 2020. And, currently, they are out of patent protection.
Moreover, the CEO of the company, Vas Narasimhantalking to Bloomberg TV said that they are in talks with different players to help them produce the COVID vaccines. That sounds interesting and the company claims it canfulfill the market demand to some extent—which is colossal since day one.
On top of all these developments, Novartis’ novel investigational treatment specifically targeting the ABL myristoyl pocket (STAMP), asciminib, has obtained the Breakthrough Therapy designation (BTD) by the FDA.
The company has been granted to treat adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in the chronic phase (CP). This is a great breakthrough for the company and it plans for submission in the first half of this year.
