Large Cap Biopharmaceuticals Q1 2023: In This Bullish Run Biotech Lags

Large Cap Biopharma Lagged in Q1 Except: REGN up 13.895 and VRTX up 9.1%.

  • Winners Q1: REGN, VRTX, AZN: Laggards Q1:PFE, AMGNLLY.
  • Winners 12 mos: GILD 39.56%, BIIB 32%, MRK 29.66%, LLY 29.3%, VRTX 26%.
  • Small-caps equal weight XBI down 8.18%,  Healthcare XLV down 4.7%, IBB biotech large cap weighted down 1.62%.

It was a nice recovery in a choppy market for Q1 surprising many investors because of fears from the SVB banking collapse that may spread to regional banks. The S&P 500 Financial sector lost 6.05% for Q1 followed by losses in Energy down 5.57% and Healthcare down 4.72%. Nasdaq Infotech and the QQQ led the charge up over 20% reversing trends from 2022. Even the S&P was up 7% and smaller caps began to recover.

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It was very difficult to make money in Q1 trading healthcare or biotech ETFs because of the sharp rally in other sectors. Nonetheless, there were two big winners Regeneron and Vertex as well as some of our favorite large caps like GILD, MRK that have done well over 12 months. So our recommendation has been to overweight large cap biopharmas with a basket of stocks because the leadership can change. But most provide dividends and robust product pipelines that can provide growth. For now, our picks are strong holds and PFE is a contrarian buy for value and dealmaking.

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Company Ticker Price Price Price MktCap % Perf              
    1/15/18 3/31/23 11/1/19 2022 1 yr   FWD Analyst % 52 week H YTD %  
          $B   P/S PE Recom Div      
Abbvie ABBV 100.000 159.37 81.75 278.6 (1.69) 4 14.34 2.4 3.71 169.39 -1.39  
Alexion*(ALXN) ALXN 123.000 182.5 109.38 40.33 n/a 4.56 9.38 2.2  

*acquired by AZN

   
Amgen AMGN 185.000 241.75 221 129 4.9 12.77 2.7 3.52 283.36 -7.95  
AstraZeneca* AZN 35.000 69.41 40.34 214.3 4.63 4.83 16.1 1.9 3.51 71.94 2.37  
Biogen BIIB 336.000 278.31 299.2 143.45 32 3.11 8.44 2.2 307 0.4  
Bristol Myers* BMY 63.000 69.31 57.16 152 -5.09 3.29 8.8 2.3 3.29 81.44 -3.67  
Celgene* (BMY) CELG 106.000 n/a 108.53 77 n/a 4.69 8.7 n/a  

*acquired by BMY

   
                           
Gilead Sci GILD 79.000 82.97 61.69 101.7 39.56 3.73 11.49 2.6 3.62 89.75 -3.35  
GlaxoSmithK* GSK 38.000 35.58 45 71.58 -18.32 1.97 9.05 2.8 3.9 39.74 1.25 Haleon spinout
Eli Lilly LLY 85.000 343.42 113 325 19.92 11.38 29.3 2.1 1.32 384 -6.13  
Merck MRK 59.000 106.39 78 268.9 29.66 4.54 12.5 2 2.74 115.49 -4.11  
Pfizer PFE   40.8   227.9 -21.19 2.27 10.83 2.5 4.02 54.93 -20.37  
Regeneron REGN 367.000 821.67 310.48 88.72 17.65 7.29 18.23 2.1 835 H 13.89  
Vertex VRTX 158.000 315.07 196 89.25 26.08 20.73 20.34 2.2 325 9.1  
                           
      3/31 11/19   %YTD 1 yr       2022 high    
XBI     76.21 93   -8.18 -15.21       97.19    
IBB     129.16 119.65   (1.62) -0.87       138.74    
FBIOX     15.63 20.26   -3.99 -3.4       17.31    
PRHSX     87.75 79   -2.3 -7.77       97.86    
XLV     129.46 121.11   -4.7 -5.5       143.42    
XPH     41.01 39.47   0.15 -9.41       46.61    
UNH     472.59 252   -10.86 -7.33       558    
QQQ     320.93 201.23   20.52 -11.48       369.31    
       

More By This Author:

Biotech And Life Science Trades: Q1 2023 Performance By The Numbers
Can Healthcare Stocks Survive Macro Headwinds?
Small Cap Biotechs Slammed By SVB Collapse

Disclosure: Long ABBV, BMY, GILD, LLY, MRK, PFE REGN, and VRTX.

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