A low price doesn't necessarily mean low quality. That's true with lots of products and services. And it's true with stocks, too.
We asked Three Motley Fool contributors to name no-brainer healthcare stocks to buy for under $100 right now. Here's why they picked AstraZeneca(NASDAQ: AZN), Bristol Myers Squibb(NYSE: BMY), and Pfizer(NYSE: PFE).
AstraZeneca is a growth beast with loads of potential upside
David Jagielski(AstraZeneca): Shares of AstraZeneca are trading at around $80, but they aren't likely to stay this low for long. The healthcare company has an aggressive growth strategy in place that should pave the way for some great results and a much higher valuation in the future.
Through acquisitions and in-house development, the pharma giant has achieved impressive results. In just three years, its revenue grew by more than 70% to $45.8 billion in 2023. And AstraZeneca has some ambitious growth targets ahead. By 2030, management believes it can generate $80 billion in annual revenue. It expects to grow in all areas of its business (including oncology, cardiovascular, respiratory, and immunology) and aims to have 20 new medicines developed by then. Today, the company has more than 180 projects ongoing in its robust pipeline.
Given the stock's modest valuation, AstraZeneca is an easy growth investment to justify adding to your portfolio. It's currently trading at 19 times its estimated future earnings, which is below the healthcare average of 20. And it has a price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 1, implying that there's good value here for long-term investors. Plus, with AstraZeneca also paying a dividend that yields 1.8% at the current share price, there's some extra incentive to be patient with the stock.
Trust the process
Prosper Junior Bakiny (Bristol Myers Squibb): Should pharma investors live in fear of patent cliffs? It's understandable that some would. When a drugmaker loses patent protection for an important product, it can be devastating to its bottom line. But such events are not death sentences -- at least, not if the company in question has the innovative ability to develop newer drugs that will make up for the sales lost to generic and biosimilar competition.
In that vein, consider Bristol Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical giant that lost patent exclusivity for cancer drug Revlimid, its former top-selling drug, a little over two years ago. Bristol Myers' revenue growth has been slow, at best, ever since.
There's more bad news coming. Opdivo, a cancer medicine currently among the company's best-selling products, and anticoagulant Eliquis, another high-performing medicine, will both lose their main patent protections by the end of the decade. Expectations around those issues have weighed on the drugmaker's stock performance in recent years. Its shares currently change hands for just under $41.
Long-term investors -- and income-seeking ones, for that matter --should see Bristol Myers' recent ordeals as an opportunity. The newer assets in its portfolio are growing in prominence. These include Reblozyl, a treatment for anemia in patients with beta-thalassemia first approved in the U.S. in 2019, cancer treatment Opdualag, first approved in 2022, and several others. Bristol Myers estimates it will bring in more than $10 billion in revenue from this lineup of newer medicines in 2026.
For reference, this portfolio racked up $3.6 billion in revenues last year, an increase of 77% year over year. By 2030, the pharmaceutical giant projects $25 billion in revenue from these products. In the meantime, Bristol Myers' deep pipeline should produce other new breakthroughs.
While it might be going through a difficult transition period, it's not rare for pharmaceutical giants to experience such difficulties. And Bristol Myers is doing precisely what it needs to do to eventually rebound from these issues, and the stock should reward investors with a long-term mindset. This stock does indeed look like a no-brainer for anyone who can look beyond the company's current issues and trust the process.
Cheap in two ways
Keith Speights (Pfizer): Sometimes, stocks have cheap share prices, but their valuations aren't so cheap. Pfizer is cheap on both counts. Its share price currently hovers around $28. More importantly, though, with a forward earnings multiple of only 11.9, the stock's valuation is attractive.
Granted, there are some reasons for Pfizer's low valuation. Sales of the company's COVID-19 products are sinking like a brick. Like Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer faces a looming patent cliff. Key U.S. patents for eight of its products -- among them, several of its top moneymakers -- will expire by the end of the decade.
But is Pfizer a value trap? I don't think so.
The biopharma giant thinks new products and indications will add around $20 billion to its annual sales by 2030. These new products include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Abrysvo and multiple myeloma drug Elrexflo. Even if that target proves overly optimistic, much of the negative impact of the patent cliff could be offset by these new products and indications.
Pfizer built a massive cash stockpile when its COVID-19 vaccine sales were booming, and it has been putting that money to work. The company acquired Arena, Biohaven, and Reviral in 2022, and bought Seagen last year. Management is looking for around $25 billion in additional annual revenue by 2030 from its business development deals.
These acquisitions haven't hindered Pfizer's dividend payouts. The drugmaker distributed $2.4 billion in dividends to shareholders in the first quarter of 2024, and it intends to maintain and grow the dividend. That's great news, especially considering Pfizer's forward yield already tops 6% at the current share price.
What do you get when you combine a low share price, an attractive valuation, better growth prospects than meet the eye, and a juicy dividend yield? My answer is a stock that's a no-brainer buy.
Should you invest $1,000 in AstraZeneca Plc right now?
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David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights has positions in Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer. Prosper Junior Bakiny has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends AstraZeneca Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
