You can look at the momentum for some stocks and have a feeling that it's about to end. Others, though, have such strong underlying business prospects that they're practically unstoppable.
Three Motley Fool contributors believe they've identified healthcare stocks in the latter category. Here's why they think Eli Lilly (LLY 1.45%), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG 0.68%), and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX -1.72%) are unstoppable stocks to buy in 2025.
Eli Lilly's stock is a no-brainer buy for growth investors
David Jagielski (Eli Lilly): It may look as though Eli Lilly's stock has peaked given its recent slide, but there's still a lot more room for it to run higher. The pharmaceutical giant has loads of potential just due to its fast-growing GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound. The former is a treatment for diabetes while the latter is its recently approved weight loss drug. They combined for just under $4.4 billion in sales during the company's most recent quarter (it ended on Sept. 30, 2024).
But with these drugs in the early innings of their growth, there's a lot more room for Eli Lilly's sales and profits to rise a whole lot higher in the years ahead. And while investors may be concerned about the potentially crowded GLP-1 weight loss market in the future, Zepbound remains the best weight loss drug available. In clinical trials, tirzepatide (the active ingredient in both Mounjaro and Zepbound) helped people lose 26.6% of their body weight, on average, over an 84-week period.
The drug is a game changer for both the company as well as people who rely on it to lower their weight, as they become healthier in the process and reduce their risk for many obesity-related illnesses. It's the huge success of Zepbound which is why investors are bullish on the business, and why it looks unstoppable. And as the company works on oral drugs and other weight loss treatments, it could unlock even more growth opportunities down the road.
Even though it's trading at 35 times next year's estimated future profits (based on analyst estimates), Eli Lilly can still make for an excellent long-term buy given the potential it possesses. This is an unstoppable growth stock you can buy and hold in your portfolio for years.
A bigger opportunity than ever
Keith Speights (Intuitive Surgical): Once upon a time, the idea of using robots to perform surgeries would have only come up in science fiction. Thanks to Intuitive Surgical, robotic surgery is a reality today. Nearly 17 million procedures have been performed to date with its da Vinci robotic surgical system.
Unsurprisingly, Intuitive Surgical has been one of the best medical device stocks around. Its shares have skyrocketed roughly 28,870% since the company's IPO in 2000. Over the last 12 months, the stock has jumped close to 60%.
Intuitive Surgical projects worldwide procedure growth of between 13% and 16% this year. The upper end of the guidance range is a little lower than the 17% growth achieved in 2024. This reflects some near-term challenges for the company, including uncertainty in China and physician strikes in South Korea.
However, the long-term opportunity for Intuitive Surgical is bigger than ever. A year ago, the company estimated that 7 million procedures are performed each year for which it already has products and clearances with a total of around 21 million procedures it could target with products and clearances under development. Intuitive's new estimates increased both numbers by 1 million.
Around 2.68 million procedures were performed with Intuitive's da Vinci system last year. Another 95,000 procedures were performed with the Ion robotic system used for peripheral lung biopsy. That's less than half of the market Intuitive could address with its current regulatory clearances and only 16.5% of the total addressable market.
I expect Intuitive Surgical will capture much more of this market over the next few years. I also predict the addressable market will expand as populations age and the company's robotic technology improves.
An innovative powerhouse you can buy on the dip
Prosper Junior Bakiny (Vertex Pharmaceuticals): In December, Vertex Pharmaceutical’s shares dropped off a cliff following poor phase 2 results for an investigational pain medicine. These things happen frequently in the volatile biotech industry, and in some cases, such as this one, it creates opportunities for investors to put their money in excellent stocks while they are down. Though Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ investigational pain treatment might have flopped in a clinical trial, it could earn its first indication later this month.
Further, the drugmaker still has a monopoly in the market for therapies that treat the underlying causes of cystic fibrosis, a rare disease of the lungs. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ dominance in that area continues to help it generate strong revenue and earnings. Elsewhere, Vertex’s pipeline has made tremendous progress. The company earned approval for a newer, better CF medicine in December. It also won regulatory nods for Casgevy, a gene editing therapy developed in collaboration with CRISPR Therapeutics, starting in late 2023.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a couple of late-stage programs and several others in the earlier stages of development. The company’s track record of innovation speaks for itself. Many of its peers have tried and so far failed to develop competing CF therapies. While they may succeed eventually, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is now casting a wider net and developing medicines across several therapeutic areas. The company’s lineup will look different in five years, but one thing won’t change: Vertex Pharmaceuticals will continue to produce excellent returns to patient investors. That's why it's a no-brainer buy, especially at current levels.
