Update-1 7/1/25… Biopharma stocks rallied across my green screen today with some laggards picking up over 2% gains: AZN, BIIB, BMY, JNJ, MRK, PFE; more amazing is that United Health (UNH) was up 4.54% on good volume. So its holiday week and let’s see if this run can continue and look for news and analysis, before we should upgrade a few to a BUY.
- Reluctantly I added to my tiny UNH position and even bought some Biogen (BIIB) in the $129 range.
- VRTX is up over the past 5 days, a their next generation cystic fibrosis drug was approved in Europe.
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Large Cap Biopharma Tracking and News-Maintain Hold on most positions
- Our best picks for new buys are : ABBV, GILD, LLY, VRTX.
- We remain cautious on the group for new buys until we get more clarity from Q2 earnings.
- Uncertainty for group continues to be reciprocal tariffs (esp supply chain issues)and Administration policies toward drug industry.
WEEKLY RECAP
Keep in mind that healthcare is a lagging sector and represents only about 12% of the S&P 500 especially after the collapse of United Health. The XLV is down 2.65% YTD and is up 1% this week. This market is driven by Momentum and big themes like AI, geopolitics and technology and not favoring. healthcare stocks. But most healthcare investors own a biopharma stocks because of value plus dividends as well as a general concern for health and well being. So here we provide data to help you decide next steps.
Overivew and near term perspective is no change but Q2 earnings may offer a more bullish scenario.
Gilead Sciences (GILD) continues to e one of our best picks with favorable analyst overage, a Forward PE of 12.91 and aggressive dealmaking.
Vertex (VRTX)was weak recently from an earnings miss and received dowgrades A leader in cystic fibrosis therapy and a new pain drug launched . Weak technicals and RSI.
Lily is a growth leader in obesity and diabetes products with their core GLP-! technology, yet their stock is surprisingly choppy.
I’e never seen a collapse in a large cap biotech stock like Regeneron (REGN) from $1200 to $521 yet because of the management team I’m hopeful of a recovery.
We are cautiously optimistic optimistic on ABBVIE (ABBV) despite some recent downgrades on earnings but over the years it has been our best performing biopharma stock. Here is an update 6/30 on a $2.1B acquisition to bolster their immunology pipeline.
Amgen took a 4.2% hit on Phase 2 data from their obesity drug MarTide. Remains a Neutral or Avoid. BMY is another laggard on many meruicsbu a 5.36% dividend and few upgrades makes it a spec buy cause of its leadership in immuno-oncology and pipeline.
Why sector tracking is important? Look at Invesco (PPA) Aerospace and Defense up 22..28% YTD vs VanECK Pharmaceutical (PPH) up 1.38% YTD:
LONG; ABBV, GILD, LLY, PFE, VRTX. And new buy Novartis (NVS). Trading REGN.
| Analyst | PRICE | |||||||||||||||||
| Top Biopharmas | * | PICK | TECH | PEG | Summ | 2022 | 11/23 | 6/22/25 | %YTD | 1 yr | 1 mo. | 52 wk High | div % | RSI | P/ 6/28 | % wk | ||
| Abbvie | ABBV | H/B | F | 5.19 | 1.87 | 161.64 | 138.59 | 185.3 | 4.28 | 7.65 | 0.24 | 219 | 3.51 | 41.89 | 182.31 | -1.61 | ||
| Amgen | AMGN | H | F | 5.98 | 2.24 | 275 | 303 | 289.33 | 11 | -6.63 | 5.21 | 347 | 3.2 | 43.8 | 277.13 | -4.22 | ||
| Astra Zeneca | AZN | H/S | D | 2.48 | 1.37 | 68 | 63.17 | 69.95 | -6.65 | -10.85 | 0.37 | 87.62 | 2.31 | 42.41 | 69.85 | -0.14 | ||
| Bristol Myers Sq | BMY | H | F | 0.24 | 2.64 | 71.05 | 50.61 | 46.86 | -17.15 | 14.18 | -2.11 | 63.33 | 5.3 | 53.43 | 46.35 | -1.09 | ||
| Gilead Sci | GILD | H/B | U | 0.88 | 1.87 | 85.39 | 75.92 | 108.5 | 17.46 | 58.42 | -0.46 | 120 | 2.91 | 46.46 | 110.67 | 2 | ||
| Eli Lilly | LLY | H/B | D | 1.53 | 1.52 | 447.71 | 597.71 | 762.73 | -1.2 | -13.91 | 2.1 | 972.53 | 0.79 | 45.83 | 775 | 1.67 | ||
| Merck | MRK | H | D | 0.99 | 1.88 | 110.95 | 101.39 | 79.06 | -20.53 | -39 | 1.4 | 134.63 | 4.1 | 49.43 | 79.1 | – | ||
| Pfizer | PFE | H/B | U | – | 2.44 | 51.24 | 29.48 | 23.97 | -9.65 | -13.58 | -1.91 | 31.54 | 7.18 | 53.24 | 24.19 | 0.92 | ||
| Regeneron | REGN | H | F | 9.54 | 1.67 | 725 | 798 | 509.72 | -31.17 | -49.45 | -18.12 | 1211 | 0.56 | 41.15 | 521 | 2.21 | ||
| Vertex | VRTX | H/B | U | – | 2.06 | 289 | 373.65 | 441 | 9.77 | -0.23 | -13.24 | 519 | 0 | 43.68 | 441.3 | 0.1 | ||