The Best Healthcare Stocks to Buy With $50 Right Now

It's not hard to find healthcare stocks, including small-cap biotech companies, trading below $50 per share. However, many of these are high-risk investments that are likely to destroy investors' wealth over the long run. Thankfully, there are also high-quality healthcare corporations worth investing in at that price, putting aside buying fractional shares. Let's consider three of the best healthcare stocks to buy with $50 or less right now.

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Two giants slowly staging a comeback

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) are among the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. However, both have faced significant challenges in recent years. Pfizer's financial results have been inconsistent and overall disappointing, driven by lower sales from its coronavirus franchise. Novo Nordisk has lost market share in the GLP-1 space, which it once dominated. That said, at current levels, both drugmakers look attractive. Let's start with Pfizer. The company's shares are worth just under $27 apiece, while it trades at 9x forward earnings (the healthcare industry's average forward price-to-earnings is 17.8).

Thanks to a deep pipeline, particularly in oncology and chronic weight management, the company could make significant clinical progress over the next five years and eventually launch products that will help boost its sales and profits. Pfizer's dependence on its coronavirus products will decline in the meantime, leading to much-improved financial results. What about Novo Nordisk? With its stock price of about $39 and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.4, the stock could rebound if it can ride the wave of the rapidly expanding weight-loss market. New breakthroughs will lead to a surging demand for anti-obesity products, and Novo Nordisk is one of the best-positioned companies to capitalize on this.

Novo Nordisk's weight-loss medicines, such as Wegovy and its oral version, are among the leaders in their respective niches. Novo Nordisk also has several pipeline candidates in this area, at least some of which could earn approval in the next few years. Novo Nordisk hasn't said its last word, and at current levels, it could deliver excellent returns to patient investors over the next five to 10 years.

A rising biotech with strong prospects

Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) isn't the biggest name in the biotech industry, but it has carved out a niche in oncology. Thanks to Cabometyx, a therapy approved to treat some forms of liver and kidney cancer, Exelixis generally reports growing revenue and earnings. The company could earn more label expansions for its crown jewel and ride that successful franchise until it faces generic competition in early 2030.

Exelixis is developing newer medicines in preparation for that patent cliff. Last year, the company's zanzalintinib proved effective in treating metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) in combination with Roche's Tecentriq. CRC is an especially attractive target market, since it is the second-leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and five-year survival rates drop significantly once it has metastasized.

Exelixis is developing other products beyond zanzalintinib and could have a transformed lineup by 2030. With a share price of just about $41, Exelixis looks attractive given its innovative profile in one of the industry's most lucrative therapeutic areas.

Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Exelixis and Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Exelixis and Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk and Roche Holding AG. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.