By most metrics, the stock market is priced at a premium these days. But that doesn’t mean bargains can’t still be found.
Three Motley Fool contributors think they’ve identified dirt-cheap healthcare stocks to buy right now. Here’s why they picked CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).
You can still get in on the ground floor
Prosper Junior Bakiny (CRISPR Therapeutics): Valuing relatively small biotech companies that generate little-to-no revenue is not an exact science. Even so, CRISPR Therapeutics, a gene-editing specialist, looks cheap at its current levels. CRISPR Therapeutics’ market cap is $4.2 billion despite the recent approval of Casgevy, a treatment for two blood-related diseases it developed in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are looking at a massive opportunity with Casgevy. The medicine costs $2.2 million in the U.S. They estimate a market of 35,000 patients in the U.S. and Europe, with an additional 23,000 in some countries in the Middle East where Casgevy is also approved. CRISPR Therapeutics should eventually generate well over $1 billion in sales from Casgevy.
The company has also shown that its gene-editing platform can produce tangible results in unlocking treatments where few are available. There is a world of opportunities: Plenty of conditions have no approved treatments. Many others have a dire need for better standards of care. One of CRISPR Therapeutics’ more promising projects is its work in type 1 diabetes for which the company is attempting to develop a functional cure.
In my view, CRISPR Therapeutics is a biotech giant in the making. Casgevy will bring in the funds that will help it push its gene-editing platform forward. In the next five years, expect more important clinical and regulatory progress from the company. Though CRISPR Therapeutics has delivered strong returns since its 2016 initial public offering (IPO), there remains substantial upside for the biotech, at least for investors willing to be patient.
Gilead Sciences…
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