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The best research stocks depend on your portfolio and investment goals – while volatility can be ideal for day traders, long-term investors in India and around the world will want to look to stocks with steadier gains over time.
11 research stocks to watch
We round up a selection of stocks in or related to the medical industry, weighting the list more heavily towards popular mid- and large-cap US stocks.
- Biocept (BIOC)
- OPKO Health (OPK)
- Natera (NTRA)
- Danaher Corporation (DHR)
- IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX)
- Co-Diagnostics (CODX)
- DexCom (DXCM)
- Laboratory Corporation of America (LH)
- Agilent Technologies (A)
- Illumina (ILMN)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO)
3 tools to help identify new investments
We’ve compiled a list of research stocks to keep an eye on, but the stock market is volatile and trends can change daily.
If you’re actively trading stocks, staying on top of new industry trends and rising stocks can take a lot of time. Here are some of my favourite tools to keep up with trends and get new trading ideas.
- Stock screeners. You can use an online stock screener like Finviz or TradingView to see what stocks are making the biggest moves today and narrow your search by industry and market cap. Screeners are most beneficial for technical traders who have set criteria in mind for their trades. For example, if you’re looking for stocks trending today in the medical industry, you can pull a list of all mid-cap and large-cap stocks for that industry and sort by percent change since opening.
- Newsletters. Some of my favourites include the Motley Fool Stock Advisor and the Alpha Boost and Cherry Picks newsletters published by Tastyworks. Newsletters can be a great way to find companies that may be worth investing in for the long haul.
- Social media. While I’d never make a trade based on a Reddit thread alone, social platforms like Reddit, Twitter and Tiktok can be useful tools for staying on top of what companies people are talking about. The trendiness of a stock can directly influence its price – but those trends can also be volatile. While social media can occasionally help buy-and-hold investors, it tends to be a more practical tool for active traders.
Take a deeper dive into research stocks
If you’re interested in investing in the medical industry, take a closer look at what companies in this industry do and how the stocks have historically performed. Keep in mind that positive past performance doesn’t guarantee that a stock will continue to rise in the future.
1. Biocept (BIOC)
Biocept, Inc., a molecular oncology diagnostics company, develops and commercialises proprietary circulating tumor cell and circulating cell-free tumor DNA and RNA assays utilising a standard blood sample. Its cancer assays provide information to healthcare providers to identify oncogenic alterations that qualify a subset of cancer patients for targeted therapy at diagnosis, progression and monitoring to identify resistance mechanisms.
Biocept is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$65.8 million and employs 104 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$28,476,838
- P/E ratio: 11.4966
- PEG ratio: -0.04
2. OPKO Health (OPK)
OPKO Health, Inc., a healthcare company, engages in the diagnostics and pharmaceuticals businesses in the United States, Ireland, Chile, Spain, Israel, Mexico and internationally. The company’s Diagnostics segment operates BioReference Laboratories that offers laboratory testing services for the detection, diagnosis, evaluation, monitoring and treatment of diseases, including esoteric testing, molecular diagnostics, anatomical pathology, genetics, women’s health and correctional healthcare to physician offices, clinics, hospitals, employers and governmental units; and a novel diagnostic instrument system to provide blood test results in the point-of-care setting, as well as 4Kscore prostate cancer testing services.
OPKO Health is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$1.8 billion and employs 5,767 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$1,996,663,168
- PEG ratio: -2.87
3. Natera (NTRA)
Natera, Inc., a diagnostics company, develops and commercialises molecular testing services worldwide. It offers Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus with a blood draw from the mother, as well as twin pregnancies for zygosity; Vistara, a single-gene mutations screening test to identify single-gene disorder; Horizon carrier screening to determine carrier status for various genetic diseases; and Spectrum to identify chromosomal anomalies or inherited genetic conditions during an in vitro fertilisation cycle.
Natera is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$625.5 million and employs 2,670 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$3,571,566,080
- PEG ratio: 0
4. Danaher Corporation (DHR)
Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures and markets professional, medical, industrial and commercial products and services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Life Sciences, Diagnostics and Environmental & Applied Solutions. The Life Sciences segment provides mass spectrometers; flow cytometry, genomics, lab automation, centrifugation, particle counting and characterisation; microscopes; genomics consumables; and Gene and Cell Therapy.
Danaher Corporation is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$29.5 billion and employs 78,000 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$196,921,200,000
- P/E ratio: 31.8981
- PEG ratio: 4.2925
5. IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX)
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. develops, manufactures and distributes products and services primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets worldwide. The company operates through CAG; Water Quality Products; LPD; and Other segments.
IDEXX Laboratories is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$3.2 billion and employs 10,350 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$43,236,835,328
- P/E ratio: 59.6965
- PEG ratio: 6.0909
6. Co-Diagnostics (CODX)
Co-Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, develops, manufactures and sells reagents used for diagnostic tests that function through the detection and/or analysis of nucleic acid molecules in the United States and internationally. It offers polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests for COVID-19, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, human papilloma virus, malaria, chikungunya, dengue, and the zika virus; three multiplexed tests to test mosquitos for the identification of diseases carried by the mosquitos; and molecular tools for detection of infectious diseases, liquid biopsy for cancer screening and agricultural applications.
Co-Diagnostics is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$97.9 million and employs 101 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$161,335,168
- P/E ratio: 3.8618
- PEG ratio: 0
7. DexCom (DXCM)
DexCom, Inc., a medical device company, focuses on the design, development and commercialisation of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems in the United States and internationally. The company provides its systems for use by people with diabetes, as well as for use by healthcare providers.
DexCom is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$2.4 billion and employs 6,300 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$48,708,718,592
- P/E ratio: 320.2516
- PEG ratio: 5.5834
8. Laboratory Corporation of America (LH)
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as an independent clinical laboratory company worldwide. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Labcorp Drug Development (DD). It offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid tests, Pap tests, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D products, prostate-specific antigens, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C tests, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.
Laboratory Corporation of America is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$16.1 billion and employs 67,950 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$25,019,592,704
- P/E ratio: 11.0094
- PEG ratio: 2.0681
9. Agilent Technologies (A)
Agilent Technologies, Inc. provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets worldwide. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyser; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; vacuum pumps and measurement technologies.
Agilent Technologies is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$6.4 billion and employs 17,200 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$38,825,615,360
- P/E ratio: 32.8267
- PEG ratio: 2.5265
10. Illumina (ILMN)
Illumina, Inc. provides sequencing and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis. Its products and services serve customers in a range of markets enabling the adoption of genomic solutions in research and clinical settings for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture and other emerging segments.
Illumina is listed on the NASDAQ, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$4.5 billion and employs 9,800 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$50,687,586,304
- P/E ratio: 64.0218
- PEG ratio: 2.402
11. Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO)
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. offers life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics and laboratory products and service worldwide. The company’s Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic and government markets.
Thermo Fisher Scientific is listed on the NYSE, has a trailing 12-month revenue of around US$39.2 billion and employs 130,000 staff.
- Market capitalisation: US$231,399,178,240
- P/E ratio: 30.3777
- PEG ratio: 6.9847
How to buy research stocks
Sign up with an online broker or platform to invest in one or more of these research stocks.
- Compare share trading platforms. Use our comparison table to find the best for your investment in research stocks.
- Open and fund your brokerage account. You’ll need personal and financial details, like your contact and bank information.
- Search for the stock you’re interested in. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol, like BIOC or OPK.
- Decide on how many to buy. Some brokers will allow you to purchase fractional shares, while others require you to purchase whole shares.
- Choose an order type. Invest in the research stocks now with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until the stock reaches your desired price.
- Buy the stock. Tap or click the Buy button on your brokerage account. Once you’ve invested in the medical industry, track how your stock performs to decide when it’s time to sell.
Compare trading platforms
Compare trading platforms to find the best for your investment in research stocks. For stocks listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ you’ll need to find a platform with access to US stock markets.
Bottom line
While it’s possible to turn a profit investing in research stocks, keep in mind that – like any investment – research stocks are not immune to risk. These stocks are subject to fluctuating conditions – both in the market and in the medical industry, so carefully vet your picks before you invest. And if you’re new to investing, or if it’s been awhile since you’ve taken a critical look at your investing accounts, compare brokers to make sure you’re getting the best features in your trading account.
Important information: Powered by finder.com. This information is general in nature and is no substitute for professional advice. It does not take into account your personal situation. This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of futures, stocks, ETFs, CFDs, options or any specific provider, service or offering. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks, ETFs and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and therefore are not appropriate for most investors. You do not own or have any interest in the underlying asset. Capital is at risk, including the risk of losing more than the amount originally put in, market volatility and liquidity risks. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Tax on profits may apply. Consider your own circumstances, including whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money and possess the relevant experience and knowledge. We recommend that you obtain independent advice from a suitably licensed financial advisor before making any trades.
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