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3 Big Pharma Stocks to Buy Right Now

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AbbVie Inc. (ABBV - Free Report)

Zacks Rank: #2 (Buy)

AbbVie is a pharmaceutical researcher and producer based in Illinois. Abbvie currently holds an overall "A" VGM (Value, Growth, Momentum) score. ABBV’s P/E of 8.92 is significantly below the industry average of 15.3. Additionally, AbbVie is expected to have solid top and bottom line growth in the coming years. Zacks Consensus Estimates have fiscal 2019 earnings growth at 11.38%, followed by an additional 6.4% in fiscal 2020. Earnings estimates for both fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 have also received 6 upward revisions over the past 60 days and no downward revisions over that same time frame. Over the past 12 months, the stock is down 19%. But AbbVie’s predicted earnings growth could help the stock to turnaround and improve its performance.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report)

Zacks Rank: #1 (Strong Buy)

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a large pharmaceutical manufacturer headquartered in New York City. Bristol-Myers Squibb boasts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), along with a "B" VGM score. Zacks Consensus Estimates call for solid growth in fiscal 2019, with 5.03% bottom line growth and 6.88% revenue growth. Looking forward into fiscal 2020, earnings for Bristol-Myers Squibb are expected to grow significantly. Estimates currently put fiscal 2020’s earnings growth around 20% above 2019. Plus, there have been 4 upward revisions for 2020 earnings over the past 60 days, against no downward revisions. This means at least some analysts are confident in the company’s ability to produce solid earnings growth in fiscal 2020. Similarly to AbbVie, BMY stock has been on a downward trend. Since reaching its 52-week high in September, the stock has tumbled over 25%. That being said, given Bristol-Myers Squibb’s estimated earnings growth, the stock could be on the right track to recover from these losses.

Merck & Co. (MRK - Free Report)

Zacks Rank: #2 (Buy)

Merck & Co. is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Based in New Jersey, it currently provides a large variety of drugs including name brands such as Keytruda. The company also developed the common MMR vaccine. Merck is expected to have healthy growth over the next couple of years. Zacks Consensus Estimates call for 8.99% earnings growth for fiscal 2019, fueled by 4.8% top line growth. Fiscal 2020 has even better expectations with top line growth of a further 5.5% expected to contribute to earnings growth of 10.3% on top of the fiscal 2019 growth. All this growth is expected to bring EPS to $5.21 in 2020, compared to just $4.34 in 2018. Additionally, the company has only received upward revisions for its earnings expectations for fiscal 2019 and 2020 over the past 60 days. Overall, this positive outlook could help MRK stock continue to climb.

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