14 companies · median 21 of 36 checks · prices as of 2026-09-08
Pharmaceuticals and chemicals stocks.
Sorted by how many checks each one passes. Sort by any column to see who is cheapest, who is growing, or who has the strongest balance sheet - and how that compares with what is normal for the industry.
Ranked by checks passed
14 of 201 covered companies→The pharmaceutical and chemical companies we cover are not one trade: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) passes 25 of its 36 checks and Moderna (MRNA) passes 10, with a median of 21.
→LLY, JNJ, ABBV carry 54% of the $3.99T we cover here.
 Regeneron PharmaceuticalsREGNMakes Eylea for eye disease and Dupixent for allergic conditions.ReportFact sheet | -2.1% | +42.0% | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 25/36 |
 Procter & GamblePGSells household brands from Tide and Pampers to Gillette and Olay.ReportFact sheet | -0.6% | -6.3% | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 23/36 |
 MerckMRKMakes Keytruda, the world's best-selling cancer drug, plus vaccines and animal health products.ReportFact sheet | -1.2% | +81.1% | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 22/36 |
 AmgenAMGNMakes biologic drugs for cancer, bone and heart disease, and is entering obesity.ReportFact sheet | -10.1% | +42.5% | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 22/36 |
 Bristol Myers SquibbBMYMakes cancer and blood-thinning drugs, working through patent expiries on its biggest sellers.ReportFact sheet | -3.2% | +43.8% | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 22/36 |
 Eli LillyLLYMakes drugs for diabetes, obesity and cancer, led by the GLP-1 medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound.ReportFact sheet | -2.2% | +55.5% | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 21/36 |
 AbbVieABBVMakes Humira, Skyrizi and Rinvoq for immune diseases, plus Botox and cancer drugs.ReportFact sheet | -3.0% | +20.7% | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 21/36 |
 Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTXMakes the only approved medicines for cystic fibrosis, and is expanding into pain and kidney disease.ReportFact sheet | -3.1% | +33.5% | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21/36 |
 Abbott LaboratoriesABTMakes medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition products and generic drugs.ReportFact sheet | -2.6% | -18.8% | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 20/36 |
 Johnson & JohnsonJNJMakes prescription drugs and medical devices, after spinning off its consumer brands.ReportFact sheet | -2.2% | +54.2% | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 19/36 |
 Gilead SciencesGILDMakes HIV and hepatitis drugs, and is building a cancer business.ReportFact sheet | -2.9% | +30.8% | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 18/36 |
 e.l.f. BeautyELFSells low-priced colour cosmetics and skincare, growing fast with younger shoppers.ReportFact sheet | -4.9% | -22.1% | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18/36 |
 PfizerPFEMakes vaccines and prescription drugs, working through the fall in Covid revenue.ReportFact sheet | -2.3% | +19.5% | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 14/36 |
 ModernaMRNAMakes mRNA vaccines, still living off the Covid franchise while it develops new ones.ReportFact sheet | -3.6% | +458.2% | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10/36 |
The filings behind this table close between 2026-03-31 and 2026-06-30, because these companies do not share a fiscal calendar; prices are the close of 2026-09-08. Each name links to its full report; every score is a count of pass-or-fail checks read from that company's own filings.
Where the sector falls short
median score per axis→Value is where the pharmaceutical and chemical companies we cover come up short most often, at a median of 1 of 6, while Quality runs at 5.
| Value | ●○○○○○ | 1 of 6 |
| Growth | ●●●○○○ | 3 of 6 |
| Quality | ●●●●●○ | 5 of 6 |
| Health | ●●●○○○ | 3 of 6 |
| Shareholder returns | ●●●●○○ | 4 of 6 |
| Trend analysis | ●●●●●○ | 5 of 6 |
What a normal margin looks like here
sector percentiles · 117 filers→Gross margin varies widely among pharmaceutical and chemical companies: the middle of the field runs from 28% to 60%, with a midpoint of 41% measured over 117 filers.
| Metric | Bottom third | Midpoint | Top third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin n=117 | 28.3% | 41.4% | 59.8% |
| Operating margin n=245 | -67.4% | -1.8% | 9.8% |
| Net margin n=263 | -27.5% | -0.5% | 7.6% |
| Return on equity n=248 | -32.6% | -3.3% | 9.2% |
Who grows, and who keeps it
every company in the industry→ABBV, ABT, AMGN, GILD, REGN, VRTX do both: growing faster than this industry's middle and keeping more of each sale than it does. The industry's middle is 0% growth on a 8% margin. MRNA does neither.
A year of price
not a fact about the business→11 of 14 are up over twelve months and the median move is +37.8% - Moderna (MRNA) at +458.2% against e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) at -22.1%. Price is not a fact about a business, and the Trend chapter of each report says what it is measured on.
Head to head
3 pairsThe table above gives the order. These put two of them in one column each, so you can see where the difference actually is.