4 Health Care Stocks To Check Out In The Stock Market Today
Even with the focus on earnings season in the stock market this week, Covid continues to dominate the headlines. Because of this, health care stocks remain relevant regardless. After all, the health care industry is essentially the frontline of defense against the current pandemic. As countries across the globe ramp up their anti-pandemic measures, vaccine stocks, in particular, would gain traction. In fact, the White House announced plans to inoculate 5 to 11-year-olds once U.S. regulators approve vaccines for the group. Also, while upcoming names like Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) are reportedly facing hurdles in their approval processes, investors continue to watch anxiously.
At the same time, some industry titans in the health care space are also posting their earnings. Earlier today, leading biotech firm Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB), posted solid figures in its latest quarterly earnings call. Notably, the company saw an earnings per share of $4.77 for the quarter, smashing consensus estimates of $4.11. Moreover, Biogen also beat projections on the top and bottom lines and is raising its full-year revenue outlook. Overall, the health care industry continues to power forward, regardless of the current situation with Covid. Should all this have you interested in the top health care stocks to watch, here are four in focus in the stock market now.
Top Health Care Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] This Week
- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE)
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT)
- LumiraDx (NASDAQ: LMDX)
- Johnson & Johnson Inc. (NYSE: JNJ)
Pfizer Inc.
First on this list, we have Pfizer, a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in New York City. The company has been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. With its vaccine that was co-developed with BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), it is well on track to deliver over 2 billion doses of its life-saving vaccines by the end of this year. Shares of PFE stock are trading at $42.99 a piece as of 11:48 a.m. ET. Today, the White House outlined a plan to distribute doses of the company’s vaccines to kids aged between 5 to 11 as soon as it is authorized by U.S. drug regulators.
Accordingly, the Biden administration said it has procured enough vaccines to inoculate all 28 million 5- to 11-year-olds in the U.S. A key U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine advisory group is scheduled to meet next week to discuss Pfizer’s data. This is then followed by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meeting on November 2. The shots could be approved shortly after these meetings, depending on how quickly the FDA and CDC respond. A report by CNN has also indicated that booster shots could soon be recommended for people as young as 40 with Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. All things considered, should investors be adding PFE stock to their portfolios?
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Abbott Laboratories
Another name to consider among health care stocks now would be Abbott Laboratories. In brief, Abbott is an Illinois-based medical device manufacturer. For a sense of scale, the company currently operates in over 160 countries across the globe. Through its vast array of medical tech, Abbott helps treat millions of patients around the world annually. In terms of end markets, the company’s offerings encompass the cardiovascular, Covid-testing, diabetes, nutrition, and neuromodulation industries. More importantly, ABT stock is now making waves in the stock market thanks to the company’s latest quarterly earnings report.
As it stands, the company’s shares now trade at $123.22 as of 11:49 a.m. ET after gaining by over 3% since today’s opening bell. Diving right in, Abbott reported an earnings per share of $1.40 on revenue of $10.93 billion. Comparatively, this is well over Wall Street’s estimates of $0.98 and $9.56 billion respectively. According to the company, its global diagnostics division saw a record growth of 48.2% year-over-year. This is, of course, attributed to the $1.9 billion in sales for its Covid-19 testing-related wares. With that in mind, would you be watching ABT stock?
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LumiraDx
LumiraDx is a next-generation point of care diagnostics company. It focuses on transforming community-based health care by providing critical diagnostic information to health care providers at the point of need, thereby enabling more informed medical decisions to improve health outcomes while lowering costs. LMDX stock currently trades at $9.32 a piece as of 11:49 a.m. ET and is up by over 10% on today’s opening bell. Investors seem to be responding positively to news from the company today.
Diving in, the company announced that it had received emergency use approval by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization for its Covid-19 antigen test for use in India. The test detects antigen nucleocapsid protein from a nasal swab and provides a result in under 12 minutes from sample application.
Impressively, its clinical studies have shown a 97.6% positive agreement and a 96.6% negative agreement with the PCR test for patients within the first twelve days of symptom. This would make LumiraDx’s test one of the fastest and most sensitive antigen point of care tests that are currently available in the market. The test kits are also available in the U.S. and Europe after receiving their respective regulatory approvals last year. Given this exciting piece of news, should you consider LMDX stock a buy right now?
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Johnson & Johnson
Lastly, we have Johnson & Johnson. The company has been around for more than a century and is one of the largest and most broadly-based health companies in the world. Boasting over 130,000 employees worldwide, the company strives to improve access and affordability for the masses and continues to innovate tirelessly. JNJ stock trades at $164.52 as of 11:50 a.m. ET. On Tuesday, the company reported its third-quarter financials, beating analyst estimates.
Firstly, it reported that total sales grew by 10.7% to $23.3 billion. The company also reported a net earnings of $3.66 billion, or an earnings per share of $1.37. The company says that it saw solid performance across its business segments, driven by above-market results in Pharmaceuticals and ongoing recovery in Medical Devices. Furthermore, it also enjoyed strong growth in its Consumer Health segment. For this reason, will you add JNJ stock to your list of health care stocks?
