{"id":491211,"date":"2026-01-04T06:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T06:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491211\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T06:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T06:54:14","slug":"2-healthcare-stocks-to-buy-in-a-bear-market-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491211\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Healthcare Stocks to Buy in a Bear Market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It might not seem like it, but the S&P 500<\/strong> flirted with bear market territory earlier this year. It has rebounded nicely since, but it’s always worth considering which stocks would be worth buying if we enter a bear market. Turning to the healthcare sector — which is about as defensive as they come — is a great idea.<\/p>\n

Many healthcare companies perform well, or at least better than most, through good and bad times. With that as a backdrop, let’s consider two excellent healthcare stocks to buy in a bear market: Johnson & Johnson<\/strong> (NYSE: JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories<\/strong> (NYSE: ABT).<\/p>\n

\"Person Image source: Getty Images. <\/p>\n

Johnson & Johnson is a diversified healthcare leader<\/a>. The company’s business spans innovative pharmaceuticals, where it develops products across a range of therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, infectious diseases, and more. Then there is Johnson & Johnson’s medtech division, which also spans several areas. The company generates consistent revenue and profits. The business isn’t flashy, but it gets the job done.<\/p>\n

The demand for Johnson & Johnson’s medical products remains fairly high, which enables the company to record relatively strong results even when the economy is weak.<\/p>\n

Further, Johnson & Johnson has the highest credit rating available<\/a>. While some corporations face financial troubles and are unable to fulfill their obligations, that’s unlikely to happen to this healthcare giant. Lastly, it is a fantastic income stock. Johnson & Johnson is a Dividend King, a company that has maintained an active streak of at least 50 consecutive years of dividend increases. Johnson & Johnson is at 63. This provides even more evidence that the company can perform well — and raise its payouts — through good and bad times, making it a top stock to buy in a bear market.<\/p>\n

Abbott Laboratories checks many of the same boxes as Johnson & Johnson. It’s a healthcare leader with a business spanning medical devices, nutrition, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. The company’s diversification enables it to get through challenging times. If one segment suffers, the others pick up the slack. The result: reliable (albeit not exceptional) revenue and earnings growth.<\/p>\n

Abbott also has attractive growth prospects, with none more appealing than its work in diabetes care. Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre, a franchise of continuous glucose monitoring devices, has been its biggest growth driver for years and is expected to remain so for a while, considering the market remains underpenetrated. Abbott is also seeking new avenues for growth. A recent acquisition will allow it to make waves in the cancer diagnostic market.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Abbott Laboratories is also a Dividend King. Its current streak of consecutive payout increases stands at 54 years. It’s an excellent stock to buy and hold in case a bear market hits.<\/p>\n

Before you buy stock in Johnson & Johnson, consider this:<\/p>\n

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/a><\/strong> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Johnson & Johnson wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n

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Now, it\u2019s worth noting\u00a0Stock Advisor\u2019s total average return is 966% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500.\u00a0Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

*Stock Advisor returns as of January 3, 2026. <\/p>\n

Prosper Junior Bakiny<\/a> has positions in Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Abbott Laboratories. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2 Healthcare Stocks to Buy in a Bear Market<\/a> was originally published by The Motley Fool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It might not seem like it, but the S&P 500 flirted with bear market territory earlier this year.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[20861,18319,210,1141,1142,92255,1876,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-491211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-abbott-laboratories","tag-bear-market","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-healthcare-companies","tag-johnson-johnson","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115835519943032332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}