You can watch momentum in some stocks and sense that it's coming to an end. Others, however, have such strong potential business prospects that they are almost unstoppable.
Three Motley Fool writers think they've found a health care stock in the latter category. that's why they think Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), intuitive surgery (NASDAQ: ISRG)and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) is an unstoppable stock in 2025.
David Jagielski (Eli Lilly): Given the recent decline, Eli Lilly's stock appears to have peaked, but there's still plenty of room for upside. The pharmaceutical giant has huge potential with its fast-growing GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound. The former is a drug to treat diabetes, while the latter is a recently approved weight-loss drug. The company's sales in the most recent quarter, which ended on September 30, 2024, totaled just under $4.4 billion.
But because these drugs are in the early stages of growth, Eli Lilly's sales and profits have more room to rise in the coming years. Although investors may be concerned that the GLP-1 weight loss market may become crowded in the future, Zepbound remains the best weight loss drug available. In clinical trials, tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound) helped people lose an average of 26.6% of their body weight over 84 weeks.
The drug is a game-changer for the company and for the people who rely on it to lose weight, as they become healthier in the process and reduce their risk of many obesity-related diseases. Zepbound's runaway success is largely why investors are bullish on the business, and why it seems unstoppable. As the company works toward oral medications and other weight loss treatments, it could unlock more growth opportunities in the future.
Despite trading at 35 times next year's expected future earnings (based on analyst estimates), Eli Lilly remains an excellent long-term buy given its potential. This is an unstoppable growth stock that you can buy and hold in your portfolio for years.
Keith Speights (Intuitive Surgery): There was a time when the idea of using robots to perform surgery was the stuff of science fiction. Thanks to Intuitive Surgical, robotic surgery is now a reality. To date, the da Vinci robotic surgical system has completed nearly 17 million surgeries.
Not surprisingly, Intuitive Surgical has been one of the best medical device stocks out there. Since its initial public offering in 2000, its shares have soared approximately 28,870%. The stock has gained nearly 60% in the past 12 months.
Intuitive Surgical expects global surgical volume to grow 13% to 16% this year. The upper end of the guidance range is slightly below the 17% growth achieved in 2024. That reflects some of the recent challenges the company has faced, including uncertainty in China and a doctors' strike in South Korea.
However, the long-term opportunity for Intuitive Surgical is greater than ever. A year ago, the company estimated it would perform 7 million procedures annually for which it has products and licenses, and has products and licenses in development for a total of about 21 million procedures. Intuitive's new estimate adds 1 million to both figures.
Last year, Intuitive's da Vinci system performed approximately 2.68 million procedures. Another 95,000 surgeries were performed using the Ion robotic system for peripheral lung biopsies. This is less than half of the market that Intuitive can address, and only 16.5% of the total addressable market, based on current regulatory clearances.
I expect Intuitive Surgical to capture more market share in the next few years. I also predict that the addressable market will expand as the population ages and companies advance in robotics.
Prosper Junior Bakiny (Vertex Pharmaceuticals): Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals plummeted in December amid poor phase 2 results for an investigational painkiller. These things happen all the time in the volatile biotech industry, and in some cases, like this one, it creates opportunities for investors to put money into great stocks when share prices drop. While Vertex Pharmaceuticals' investigational pain treatment may have failed in clinical trials, it could get its first indication later this month.
Additionally, the drugmaker still holds a monopoly on the market for therapies that treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF), a rare lung disease. Vertex Pharmaceuticals' dominance in the space continues to help it generate strong revenue and earnings. Elsewhere, Vertex has made huge strides in its product line. A newer, better CF drug from the company was approved in December. It also won regulatory approval for Casgevy, a CRISPR therapystarting from the end of 2023.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has several late-stage programs and several others in early stages of development. The company's record of innovation speaks for itself. Many colleagues have tried to develop competing cystic fibrosis treatments, but have so far failed. While they may ultimately be successful, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is now casting a wider net and developing drugs in multiple therapeutic areas. In five years, the company's product lineup will look different, but one thing won't change: Vertex Pharmaceuticals will continue to deliver strong returns for patient investors. That's why buying it is a no-brainer, especially at current levels.
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David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights is with Intuitive Surgical and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prosper Junior Bakiny has worked for Eli Lilly, Intuitive Surgical and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions and recommendations at CRISPR Therapeutics, Intuitive Surgical, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
3 Unstoppable Stocks to Buy in 2025 Originally published by The Motley Fool