2 Healthcare Stocks for Beginner Investors With a 20-Year Time Horizon

If you have a 20-year time horizon for your investments, you might tend to favor a wide range of stocks that fit into various categories, such as growth stocks, value stocks, and dividend stocks. The healthcare industry is one example of a sector that presents the opportunity to find stocks that fit into one or all of these categories, all while allowing you to build a position in compelling businesses benefiting from powerful secular tailwinds.

Here are two such healthcare stocks which fit the bill that you might want to consider adding to your buy list in the near term.

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1. Pfizer

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has dealt with some major changes as a company in the last several years. In the years leading up to the pandemic, Pfizer's growth was slow, and its revenue growth was in the low single digits. The success of the COVID-19 vaccine, developed with its German partner BioNTech, brought a massive and unprecedented era of growth for the business.

To bolster its drug pipeline and offset upcoming patent expirations (for key drugs like Eliquis and Ibrance), Pfizer used the extensive stockpile of profits and cash it gained from its COVID-19 products to pursue numerous acquisitions. For example, the $43 billion acquisition of Seagen in 2023 was pivotal to its ongoing oncology expansion and added several high-potential cancer therapies to its portfolio.

Following its acquisition of Seagen, Pfizer gained four approved oncology drugs: Adcetris, Padcev, Tivdak, and Tukysa. These products treat various cancers, including lymphoma, bladder, cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers.

The company has commercialized several other new products in the last several years, including RSV vaccine Abrysvo, cancer medicine Elrexfio, and alopecia treatment Litfulo. The migraine treatment Nurtec, ulcerative colitis treatment Velsipity, and the meningococcal vaccine Penbraya are also newer additions to Pfizer's portfolio from both internal development and acquisitions that are expected to drive future growth as they gain traction in the market.

The company is actively focusing its resources on non-COVID growth areas, including oncology, vaccines, and cardiometabolic treatments. Pfizer also recently announced the acquisition of biotech Metsera in a deal valued at up to $10 billion. This move is a significant strategic pivot for Pfizer to counter a shrinking COVID-19 franchise and looming patent expirations. It also gives Pfizer a pipeline of obesity drug candidates, including a once-monthly GLP-1 injection that showed promise in early studies.

In the first nine months of 2025, Pfizer reported total revenue of about $45 billion, a slight decline from the same period in 2024. However, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income rose 24% year over year in the nine-month period to $9.4 billion. Pfizer is still on track to deliver approximately $7.2 billion in net cost savings by the end of 2027. This is part of an ongoing savings initiative launched in late 2023.

The company remains a faithful dividend payer. Pfizer delivered more than $7 billion in cash dividends to shareholders in the first nine months of 2025. It has a long history of paying dividends, and has made 348 consecutive quarterly payments while increasing its dividend annually for 16 consecutive years. That yield is now close to 7%, given the pressure that shares have experienced of late.

This top healthcare stock has a strong financial foundation and a burgeoning pipeline on top of its impressive product portfolio. For long-term investors, waiting through this transitional period post-pandemic and as patent losses loom (a normal part of the life cycle for every pharmaceutical drug) could be a rewarding experience as Pfizer's share price and dividend grows in the coming decades.

2. Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, so its value is almost entirely dependent on successful clinical trial outcomes and regulatory approval. That said, if you have a 20-year buy-and-hold horizon and the sufficient personal risk tolerance level for your portfolio, Viking Therapeutics could be a compelling option for several reasons.

Viking's lead candidate, VK2735, has shown promising results in early-stage clinical trials for significant weight loss and improvements for diabetes patients. If it successfully completes phase 3 trials and gains FDA approval, it could capture a share of the rapidly expanding obesity and diabetes drug markets. Like Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro, VK2735 targets both the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.

This dual action may offer better overall health improvements and greater weight reduction compared to existing single-target (GLP-1 only) drugs like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic. Viking is developing VK2735 in two formulations: injectable and oral. An effective and well-tolerated oral pill would offer a significant convenience advantage over injections that would appeal to a large segment of patients who prefer to avoid needles.

The injectable version is in phase 3 trials, and could offer the potential for a less frequent, once-a-month maintenance dose due to its long half-life. In early trials, the injectable formulation demonstrated a significant mean body weight reduction on top of a favorable safety profile, and low discontinuation rates.

In the phase 2 VENTURE study, which involved 176 adults with obesity, the injectable formulation demonstrated a statistically significant mean body weight reduction of up to 14.7% from baseline after 13 weeks of once-weekly dosing with the highest dose. This early efficacy data positions it competitively against current market leaders, though longer-term phase 3 data will be necessary to confirm overall efficacy compared to the 68-to-72-week data available for existing, established treatments.

Beyond VK2735, Viking has other promising drug candidates in its pipeline. This includes VK2809 for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a liver disease with a large potential market, and VK0214 for the rare condition X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD).

A diversified pipeline could reduce the company's reliance on a single product's success in the future. Viking Therapeutics has a robust cash position, and ended Q3 2025 with over $715 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of the end of the quarter. Management believes its current capital position is sufficient to fund its operations through completion of the phase 3 trials for VK2735.

This cash stockpile should provide a measure of stability to continue the company's extensive research and development initiatives without immediate, dilutive fundraising concerns. If you like this business and where its foothold could extend in the lucrative but still nascent GLP-1 market, Viking Therapeutics looks like an intriguing buy-and-hold stock for risk-tolerant investors.

Rachel Warren has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends BioNTech Se, Novo Nordisk, and Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.