Vlad Bastion
Founder of Investment Bastion, Systematic Stock Ratings & Algorithmic Portfolios
Corcept Therapeutics, Travere Therapeutics, UroGen Pharma, Protagonist Therapeutics and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals rate highest among pharma stocks combining strong business growth with a rising share price. Corcept treats Cushing's syndrome and is testing drugs in cancer; Travere's sales jumped after a new rare-kidney-disease drug launch; UroGen treats bladder cancer; Protagonist develops blood and immune drugs with Takeda and Johnson & Johnson; Rhythm treats genetic rare obesity. x.comÂ
Protagonist is a really low-risk story because even a J&J buyout, its worst case, would yield a fast profit. It is not the most exciting story since big pharma gets 90% of revenues. The best case is ongoing royalties funding heavy buybacks that shrink the float over time. Keeping IL-17 and other early drugs for shareholders would be an extra stroke of luck. x.comÂ
Hims & Hers, Nautilus Biotechnology, Viking Therapeutics, Protagonist Therapeutics and Eli Lilly have 10x potential as peptide-related stocks; peptides will create generational wealth this year. Nautilus has a $230 million market cap, Viking $3.5 billion, Protagonist $9.1 billion and Lilly $1.1 trillion. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Significant discounts to broader pharmaceutical industry valuations on projected 2031 earnings make some high-quality mid-cap biotech stocks attractive. Many have cleared Phase 3 trials or reached more advanced stages, and some may reach profitability without more capital, an advantage if financing tightens. Selling these stocks to chase speculative biotech or large pharma at historically elevated multiples makes little sense. x.comÂ
UroGen Pharma remains mispriced after its Phase 3 win and FDA approval; after talks with management, the base case is a buyout at $40-50 once it shows a few quarters of growth. The stock fell from about $11 to $4 when an advisory committee opposed approval, and when the FDA overrode it, the rally started from that low rather than the pre-trial price. Broker targets run $15-60, and $15 looks like the minimum logical level for a fully de-risked story. x.comÂ
Therapeutics and genomics are a hot theme that retail traders, focused on AI and software, have not yet noticed. Healthcare, drugs and biotech have been strong for the last few months. Favorites in the group are Revolution Medicines, Twist Bioscience, Halozyme and TG Therapeutics. x.comÂ
Certara could become pivotal for drug discovery as the FDA asks for simulations from its software, an insight its earnings confirmed, though it is still early. The stock was hit hard by management changes, including the CFO's departure, and growth is only paltry, but the chart looks strong. @adudetrading likes its positioning as software becomes most of the business but notes guidance offered little hope. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Vertex Pharmaceuticals' best gains have already happened: it has been a 50-bagger over 20 years and is now a giant with a $137 billion market cap. Smaller-cap players in the space are far more interesting, even though Vertex's new collaboration using AbCellera's platform, with Vertex footing the bill, is welcome. x.comÂ
AI-enabled healthcare and genomics could deliver the next photonics-like returns, as AI transforms the sector and improves success rates just as it did in tech. The market is getting ready to price these names as future winners, and those that succeed will be real winners. Beaten-down stocks such as AbCellera, Tempus AI and Twist Bioscience, plus the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF, are looking at billion-dollar markets. x.comÂ
