The S&P 500 has roared higher over the past three years — and since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January of last year, the famous benchmark has advanced more than 23%. Investors have rushed to buy high-growth players, particularly in innovative areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.
And a new batch of growth companies has also rushed to take advantage of investors’ appetite for high-growth stories. AI chip company Cerebras Systems recently completed the biggest initial public offering of the year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX this week aims to launch what may be the largest IPO ever, and AI lab Anthropic earlier this month filed confidentially with regulators for a market debut.
All of this is fantastic and is supportive of further stock market gains. But… my prediction is the Trump bull market may end soon. The S&P 500 Shiller CAPE ratio shows that stocks remain around their highest valuation level ever, and historically, this has led to declines. Meanwhile, inflationary pressures persist, as we can see through rising energy prices and increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
But here’s some good news: If the Trump bull market ends in the near future, the following two stocks, both on the rise so far this year, will keep winning anyway. Let’s check them out.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly (LLY +1.56%) is a pharmaceutical giant, selling a wide variety of products that patients need regardless of the economic backdrop. That’s why you can count on a certain level of revenue stability and growth even during tougher times. And today Lilly happens to be the leader in one of the highest-growth healthcare markets: obesity drugs.
Lilly is the maker of the well-known Mounjaro, commercialized for type 2 diabetes, and Zepbound, approved for weight loss. The underlying product is tirzepatide, a drug of the GLP-1 class. These drugs work by interacting with hormonal pathways involved in the digestion process.
Today’s Change
(1.56%) $17.66
Current Price
$1149.08
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$1.1T
Day’s Range
$1143.80 – $1182.23
52wk Range
$623.78 – $1182.73
Volume
207K
Avg Vol
3.1M
Gross Margin
82.83%
Dividend Yield
0.57%
Mounjaro and Zepbound are blockbusters, with revenue continuing to climb in the double and triple digits. On top of this, Lilly just released Foundayo, an oral weight loss drug — Mounjaro and Zepbound are injectables. This new product should broaden the addressable market, offering Lilly a new growth driver. And the company aims to further expand this portfolio through its solid pipeline. It recently announced positive phase 3 results for GLP-1 candidate retatrutide, a potential drug that may help patients who aim for greater weight loss.
With the weight loss drug market marching toward almost $100 billion by the end of the decade, now is the perfect time to get in on this market leader.
2. Johnson & Johnson
You may know the name Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.10%) for consumer products such as Band-Aid brand bandages — but the company actually spun off this consumer health business into Kenvue three years ago. The idea was to shift its focus and resources to areas that could generate the strongest growth over time, and J&J is demonstrating that this was a wise move.
Revenue in its innovative medicines and medtech businesses has been on the rise, and the recent quarter offers us a solid example of the company’s direction. Innovative medicine delivered an 11% increase in sales, while medtech generated a 7.7% gain. And the company’s total sales rose nearly 10% to more than $24 billion.
Today’s Change
(-0.10%) $-0.23
Current Price
$232.54
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$560B
Day’s Range
$230.59 – $234.95
52wk Range
$149.04 – $251.71
Volume
270.9K
Avg Vol
7.7M
Gross Margin
67.96%
Dividend Yield
2.25%
There’s reason to be optimistic that growth will continue thanks to an enormous portfolio of powerful products: The company today has 28 products or platforms that each deliver at least $1 billion in annual sales — and J&J aims to further grow this blockbuster portfolio.
J&J has set goals to reach $100 billion in annual revenue this year and generate double-digit growth by the end of the decade. If the company reaches these goals, and there’s reason to be optimistic that it will, the stock could climb.
Any potential economic shifts shouldn’t interfere with J&J’s progress toward those goals — as mentioned above, patients need their medical treatments during all market environments. So, my prediction is that even if the Trump bull market ends, this top pharma stock will keep winning.