Not all growth stocks worth buying these days focus on the artificial intelligence field. There are many exciting ones in other industries -- even in healthcare, a sector some investors might consider boring. Two healthcare stocks that may or may not be boring, but that regardless look like strong growth stocks to invest in this month, are Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT).
The case for Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly has been a terrific stock to own for the past five years, thanks to its excellent clinical and regulatory progress. The company's breakthroughs are paying off. In each of the past six quarters, Eli Lilly's revenues have increased by more than 20% year over year, which is an incredible result for a pharmaceutical giant.
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LLY Operating Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts.
Eli Lilly should continue to grow its top line faster than its similarly sized peers. Its lineup features several blockbusters, including its popular diabetes and weight loss medicines, Mounjaro and Zepbound.
It's true that these drugs' sales are not increasing quite as fast as analysts expected, which has led to the stock declining over the past five months. However, that dip has created a better entry point for long-term investors.
The company won't stop innovating. It boasts exciting candidates across all clinical trial stages. Eli Lilly's investigational gene therapy for deafness is in early-stage studies and is already showing promise. Last year, the company reported that after treatment with the gene therapy, an 11-year-old patient who had been deaf from birth was able to hear for the first time. Eli Lilly's late-stage pipeline features such products as retatrutide, a potential novel weight loss treatment.
Eli Lilly broke new ground with Zepbound. It's a dual GLP-1/GIP agonist, meaning it mimics the action of those two hormones. It was the first treatment of its kind to earn the green light from health regulators. Retatrutide mimics the action of three hormones: GLP-1, GIP, and GCG. Eli Lilly nicknamed this investigational weight loss therapy "Triple G." These examples barely scratch the surface of Eli Lilly's pipeline. Investors can expect significant R&D progress from the company in the next five years and strong financial results.
Lastly, Eli Lilly is an excellent dividend growth stock. Management has increased its payouts by a total of almost 103% in the past five years. So both for its growth prospects and its quality as an income investment, Eli Lilly looks like an excellent pick now, especially since its share price performance hasn't been strong recently.
2. Sarepta Therapeutics
Sarepta Therapeutics is a biotech that specializes in developing drugs for rare diseases where current treatment options are limited. The company has several drugs on the market that treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive genetic disease that weakens patients' muscles.
The most important therapy in Sarepta Therapeutics' portfolio is Elevidys, which last year earned full FDA approval for use in ambulatory Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients. The medicine also earned accelerated approval for non-ambulatory patients, so additional trials may be required for it to maintain its approval in that demographic.
In the meantime, Elevidys is giving a significant boost to Sarepta Therapeutics' financial results, which is unsurprising since there aren't many safe and effective treatment options for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Elevidys, unlike the biotech's other medicines, targets the disease's underlying causes. Sarepta Therapeutics has announced preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year earnings.
The company expects to report $1.8 billion in net revenue for 2024, compared to $1.2 billion in 2023. That would be an increase of about 49%.
Sarepta Therapeutics recently announced more positive results from a phase 3 study for Elevidys. The company has many other pipeline candidates, including several more potential Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapies. The biotech is also going after other targets.
It is currently running a phase 3 trial for an investigational therapy for Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophy. Sarepta Therapeutics has more than 40 candidates in its pipeline.
Between those programs and the company's current lineup, which is already driving strong top-line growth, Sarepta Therapeutics could deliver excellent long-term returns.
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Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Eli Lilly. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
