The Best Healthcare Stock to Invest $1,000 in Right Now

By Thomas Niel – Mar 2, 2026 at 3:00PM ESTKey PointsTeva Pharmaceutical Industries has more than doubled in price over the past year.The Israeli drugmaker, formerly known for producing generics, has made a major move into the specialty drugs space.Shares could keep rising as the company grows and valuation expands further.When you think "top-performing pharma stock," Eli Lilly may first come to mind. Yet while Lilly's shares have surged over the past few years, they've only gained around 14% over the past year. Contrast that with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA 0.27%). The Israel-based drugmaker, best known for its focus on generics, has more than doubled in price over this time frame. Better yet, as the key driver of Teva's strong performance has only started to emerge, further gains may lie ahead. ExpandNYSE: TEVATeva Pharmaceutical IndustriesToday's Change(-0.27%) $-0.09Current Price$33.77Key Data PointsMarket Cap$39BDay's Range$33.56 - $34.1852wk Range$12.46 - $37.34Volume277KAvg Vol9.5MGross Margin51.82% With its strengthening growth prospects, Teva may be the best healthcare stock to put $1,000 into right now. Here's why. Image source: Getty Images. Teva has knocked it out of the park On Jan. 28, Teva released its latest earnings report, for the fourth quarter and the full year 2025. For the quarter, it reported stronger-than-expected results. Revenue came in at $4.7 billion, up 11% year over year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.96, well above analyst forecasts averaging $0.64. For the full year, the company reported revenue growth of 5%, and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings growth of 19%. That said, $500 million in milestone payments from Sanofi for drug candidate duvakitug -- a potential treatment for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease -- skewed results for the quarter and the full year. Excluding these payments, revenue and earnings were up by just a few percentage points compared to 2024. Guidance also calls for 2026 to be a transitory year, with total revenue expected to decline. However, the expectation of sluggish overall results belies major changes underway. The longtime generic-drug maker plans to continue its pivot into specialty drugs. Strong sales of branded drugs like Austedo, Ajovy, and Uzedy are, for now, countering flat generics sales. In the years ahead, these products will become an increasingly larger share of Teva's revenue mix, leading investors to anticipate improved revenue, margins, and earnings growth. Long-term investors haven't missed the boat Much of Teva's rise throughout 2025 was because of the company's ongoing transformation. However, that hasn't become fully baked into the stock's valuation. Based on analyst forecasts for 2026, Teva currently trades for around 12.5 times forward earnings. This is on the middle to lower end of the valuation range for pharmaceutical stocks. However, if you have a multiyear time horizon, you've yet to miss the boat. If the company's growth accelerates starting in 2027, shares could rise due to both earnings growth and multiple expansion. Beyond further growth for Teva's aforementioned trio of branded specialty drugs, other pipeline candidates are poised to generate significant revenue in the years ahead. Management anticipates that duvakitug will eventually hit $2 billion to $5 billion in peak annual sales. Add in other candidates, and peak sales potential for the pipeline exceeds $10 billion. Analysts may be anticipating EPS to fall 8.5% this year, before rising 12.3% in 2027, but in time these forecasts could prove conservative. Even if forecasts are on the money, a move to more than $3 per share in annual earnings, expected next year, could mean serious additional price appreciation for this stock.

Consider Teva Pharmaceutical Industries a buy at current prices, and a screaming buy should the stock price unexpectedly tumble.Read NextFeb 27, 2026 •By Reuben Gregg BrewerHere's Why I Won't Touch Teva Pharmaceutical With a 10‑Foot PoleDec 24, 2025 •By Sean WilliamsBillionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Sold Nvidia and Palantir and Piled Into One of Wall Street's Hottest Drug Stocks Ahead of 2026Dec 17, 2025 •By Reuben Gregg Brewer3 Things You Need to Know if You Buy Teva Pharmaceutical Stock TodayDec 14, 2025 •By Reuben Gregg BrewerShould You Forget Teva Pharmaceutical and Buy These Unstoppable Stocks Instead?Nov 30, 2025 •By Bram Berkowitz30% of Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller's Portfolio Is Invested in These 3 Biotech StocksNov 5, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Teva Pharmaceutical Stock Rocked the Market TodayAbout the AuthorThomas Niel is a contributing Analyst at The Motley Fool, covering publicly traded companies in the consumer goods and technology sectors. Prior to the Motley Fool, Thomas was a contributing Analyst for several online investing publications, including InvestorPlace, Seeking Alpha, and TipRanks. He also has past career experience in the accounting and government contracting industries. He holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Marymount University. Thomas won his school's geography bee in the fifth grade, but retired from the professional geography bee circuit shortly thereafter.TMFThomasNielStocks MentionedTeva Pharmaceutical IndustriesNYSE: TEVA$33.77(-0.27%)-$0.09Eli LillyNYSE: LLY$1,017.74(-3.26%)-$34.25SanofiNASDAQ: SNY$47.72(-1.93%)-$0.94*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.