Biotechnology, Gene-editing and Medical Research Stocks to Buy in 2019

(Market Call Minute.)Reversing of bad cholesterol in clinical studies. A little early for him but has potential. Speculative.

There is nothing more powerful than a base breakout, and this had one in February of this year. This one is on a trend line right now and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the chart.

He still likes it and holds it. It makes cell culture measurements. They moved over to a more economical method for making their products and this will benefit their profitability. They have a division up for sale and they might get lucky and get a sale before year-end.

They said they will be cash flow positive moving into 2020. If they have the growth rate they are projecting, then you will see the stock start to move again. Right now it is in the penalty box.

For years NEPT was in partnerships where they were extracting Omega-3 oils from krill oil and selling that to consumers. Now they're taking that extraction technology and applying it to the cannabis oil market. He's in a wait-and-see spots. The fundamentals don't back the move up in the stock. He has a small short on…

A small company that develops transformative gene medications. They are a small fish in a big sea. A recent transaction with a pharma company allows them to scale out their product, but it is still early. (Analysts’ price target is $58.05)

A higher-risk/return play. This biotech has several core products generating good free cash flow. They’re partnering with Sanofi on Dupixent to treatment severe atopic dermatitis and potentially severe asthma. They also have another drug to treat specific eye diseases. REGN boasts various late-stage drug trials. Regeneron is a new Top Pick for us, driven by…

(A Top Pick May 8/17. Up 11.02%.) The period of seasonal strength for this is usually early May right through until the middle of July. We have reached the point where seasonality no longer applies. Now is a good time to take the money off the table.

It's a little speculative, because they could invent the coronavirus vaccine. In the past they found the hepatitis C cure. Gilead did very well until a few years ago. Now, their earnings and stock are half of their historic peak.

Legislation handcuffs big pharma by letting patents expire and turn to generics. This stops these companies from growing revenue. Big pharma has to keep hitting home runs to survive. When they can't, they cut costs or amalgamate them. He prefers biotechs.

The sector has done poorly, and the summer is seasonality. A lot of this has to do with the US election campaign with candidates offering cheap/free healthcare. BIIB fell below support at $250. He is avoiding the entire space.

They are focused on the drug side of health care. There is a lot pressure on costs and from a political perspective as well. The company has had a great run as of late, but drugs can be very volatile. He generally favors the equipment and insurance sectors in health care.

He sold it recently. They sold their eye-care division and are back to generic drugs, a lousy business for all companies. Invest elsewhere.

The biotech grandddaddy. A great company that's produced some fine drugs, but other technologies have taken the shine off this stock. New drugs haven't driven the stock up. It does trade at a reasonable 11x earnings. A decent stock and it's stable, but lacks the punch of its peers. It depends what happens in the…

TEVA-N vs. MYL-Q. He does not like either at these prices. They are both generics manufacturers. There are lots of headwinds on pricing in these categories. We have had a lot of noise on pricing of pharmaceuticals. The FDA is going to alleviate the delays on getting new drugs to market. He wants to be…

He sold it several months ago, because it outperformed like crazy in late-2018. That was expected, because healthcare is the most defensive sector and Q4 was a bear market with fears of a recession. LLY made an acquisition in oncology and one of their big drugs got withdrawn. Novo Nordisk may launch a diabetes drug…

(A Top Pick Oct 02/19, Up 7%) They reported today and miss expectations. It's a big global company. There's global demand for their medical devices; in Asia, for instance, there's rising heart disease. So, Medtronic can fulfill this demand.

Top healthcare pick. Valuation is rich, though the dividend is decent. He will suggest a better stock in Top Picks.

(A Top Pick Jan 10/19, Up 25%) A diversified healthcare company that's done well. They sell generic drugs to higher-growth EM (40% of revenues); adult and child nutritional products; and medical products which is showing profit momentum driven by product launches. Aging demographics favour ABT. They don't suffer US drug pricing issues, either. They've increased…

Investing in healthcare is hard. He holds BDX which he sees it as the shopping mall of healthcare products. He used to own ZBH but they suffered from recalls. He would probably stick to one of the three since he believes they are the best run companies in healthcare.

A great medical equipment company. Over time, they've consolidated and grown. Demographic trends are on his side. But he owns Abbott instead; you can't own everything. Wait for more of a pullback to buy. If the PE falls to the low-$20s, step in.

This is funny in terms of a long-term outlook. They have a buildings supplies business, and the hospital protection business. Whenever there is a pandemic in the works, this company takes off. It has been moving around $4 per share, and thinks it could go a fair bit higher. He would like to get $6+…