Three Healthcare Buys That Wall Street Loves

Healthcare stocks are hot right now. Several factors are driving them higher, including innovations in areas like heart disease and immunotherapy, as well as increasingly effective treatments for obesity and diabetes. Those new technologies are emerging just as the population is aging. Also, the healthcare sector tends to weather economic downturns well, so it contains defensive stocks for investors worried about a coming contraction or market correction.

Lots of healthcare stocks are outperforming the broader market this year (as measured by the S&P 500 index, which is up about 15.5% year to date). But here are three that Wall Street has shown particular affection for in 2025.

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Eli Lilly: Maker of the world's best-selling drug

First up is Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), which manufactures a drug called tirzepatide, a GLP-1 dual receptor agonist. It sells the drug as Mounjaro to treat type 2 diabetes and as Zepbound for weight loss. In the third quarter, tirzepatide became the world's best-selling drug. With year-to-date sales of $24.8 billion, it surpassed Keytruda, a blockbuster cancer immunotherapy drug made by pharmaceutical giant Merck.

Lilly continues to gain market share in the rapidly expanding market for GLP-1 drugs, beating out its biggest rival in that space, Novo Nordisk. Its market share increased to 57% during the second quarter.

And Lilly is currently developing an oral version -- its current treatments are injected -- of a small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist to treat obesity, which it expects to submit to global regulators for approval by the end of 2025. So the company is the biggest player, with expanding market share, in an exploding market. No wonder the stock is up 27% this year.

Amgen: Offers a strong product mix

Next up is Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN). The biotech firm is having a very strong 2025. It recently reported third-quarter results, with both revenue and earnings topping Wall Street estimates.

Product sales were extremely strong, up 12% over the same period a year ago. Amgen has a broad variety of drugs, but top performers include Uplizna to treat inflammatory diseases, Tezspire for rhinosinusitis and asthma, and Prolia for osteoporosis. Its cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha was recently found to cut the risk of a first heart attack by 36%.

Shares of Amgen are up nearly 26% this year and have soared 11% just over the past week.

AbbVie: Growing blockbusters

A third stock getting a lot of love from Wall Street this year is AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV). The company also has a strong stable of top-performing drugs. Neuroscience products like Vraylar and migraine medications Ubrelvy and Qulipta are boosting AbbVie's growth. But the stars may be immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq, which have delivered robust sales growth. Management thinks that Rinvoq will hit $11 billion in annual revenue by 2027, and Skyrizi will reach the $20 billion mark.

Wall Street apparently believes it, too. The stock is up 25% this year.

All three companies appear to have a very bright future, with top-selling drugs and rising market shares. That's a lot to love.

Matthew Benjamin has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie and Amgen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.