(This is “The Best Stocks in the Market,” brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — In innovation cycles like the PC revolution, dot.com, wireless, dot.com 2.0, cloud computing, and AI, it makes sense to invest broadly across categories, as the tide lifts all (most) ships as spending increases. It’s hard to find names related to themes that don’t work, and the winners are far more widespread. If you buy “chips”, “servers”, and “routers”, you will probably make money. Thus, when we think of technology, we think of energy, mining, automobiles, and airlines. These are market areas where the big picture is more important than differences between companies (yes, they are important, but JetBlue is not Delta and Intel is not NVIDIA). In the healthcare sector, especially big pharma and biotech, it’s much more difficult. Yes, like many investors today, you could benefit from a sector-wide rerating. But you should also know their name, history of execution, turnaround, science, and the target market they’re aiming for. This is not like choosing between Exxon and Chevron. Sean is going to discuss the recent shift to large-cap stocks across the healthcare market. This also influences the composition of the market’s best stocks list. We’re back with more commentary on three of the best stocks in the right sector at the right time: AbbVie (ABBV), Amgen (AMGN), and Eli Lilly (LLY). Sector Leaderboard As of November 17th, there are 198 names on “The Best Stocks in the Market” list. Top Sector Rankings: Top Industries: Top 5 Blue-chip Stocks by Relative Strength: Spotlight Sean — Market leadership is stirring beneath the surface. Last week, healthcare outperformed the S&P 500 by 5.7% for three straight days, its strongest relative strength since 2008. The bull market is supported by leadership in the tech industry, reflected in healthcare’s heavy presence in both the S&P 500 and the Best Stocks list. Still, trends are evolving and some lesser-known sectors are starting to boom. As of last week, only 43% of stocks in the S&P 500 were trading above their 20-day moving average. The tech industry, a major driver of the market this cycle, has just stalled, with only 25% of sectors above this trend line. Meanwhile, the value-oriented group suddenly took the lead. Energy has 100% of its constituents trading above their 20-day moving average, and Healthcare leads all sectors with 66%. This is not a declaration of a new leadership structure for the market. This is an observation that the majority of names in these sectors are in a short-term uptrend compared to technology and the market as a whole. As of this morning, 23 medical institution names are on the list. You can see that LLY was the best performing stock on the list last week and is in full breakout mode. In addition to bidding on market-beaten healthcare stocks, LLY recorded four analyst upgrades and two reratings, just in time for a breakout above its spring 2025 high. If we zoom out a little further, we can see that LLY has hit a new high for the first time since last summer. Fundamentals also support this move. The company reported a 54% increase in sales, with several of its key drugs hitting triple digits. LLY’s cardiometabolic drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound reported third-quarter revenue increases of 109% and 184% year over year, respectively. AbbVie (ABBV) and Amgen (AMGN) are two biotech leaders barreling towards all-time highs. AbbVie has been an outstanding performer, returning 36% over the past year, compared to Amgen’s 12% and XBI’s 14%. It also provides stronger growth expectations, with analysts expecting EPS growth of 34% next year. Management expects operating margin expansion in the coming quarters due to SG&A expense reductions and better-than-expected revenue growth. Amgen, by contrast, is in investment mode. Research and development spending increased 31% year-over-year as the company increased funding for late-stage clinical programs. In the third quarter, management highlighted how Amgen is integrating AI across manufacturing, clinical trials, and early drug discovery to accelerate molecular design and other critical elements of the research pipeline and reduce lasting costs. Risk Management Josh — When I look at the LLY chart below, I have to say, “I missed it!” You may have some. But the point here is that zooming out gives us context to understand that we may be just at the beginning of something rather than the end. Even if your fundamental research concludes that LLY is going to have a great year in 2026, there’s no need to be scared by recent price action. The above three-year status (weekly) of LLY is shown. This breakout took years. If the stock recovers some of last week’s torrid earnings-driven rally, the period’s highs in the $950 to $960 range should act as support. Investors without a position here should look at that level as a long opportunity. If it holds and the stock starts to rebound, you’ll know you’re serious about being long. AbbVie is a huge company with a market capitalization of $400 billion, a dividend yield of 3%, and a stock price that has trended upward for 10 consecutive years. Without any doubt, I would like to be long here. I use the rising 200 days as a rolling stop and update at the end of each week. This represents a 13% decline from today’s levels. I think we are likely to retest the October blow-off top as seen in the chart above. The chart above is a long-term outlook, with AbbVie’s actual and projected annual earnings shown in orange and blue. There’s a reason why this stock did what it did. The company’s performance has been amazing. I think you’ll see 275 before 200, even if you have to wait a while. Okay, let’s go with Amgen. This is easy. Here are stocks that have been on a massive upward trend over the past 15 years. You can see that the stock took off in 2012 and basically never looked back. But we can’t get back to 2012 prices, so let’s focus on today. Below is a chart of the year that saw the stock hit its spring high following a great earnings report. The RSI is overbought in the mid-70s, so I think there will be a cooling period of about 1-2 weeks. There may be some profit taking, but we hope that buyers continue to take control and protect the $320 area breakout. Let’s backtrack a bit on the chart below…Last week, Amgen surpassed an even more meaningful level, the September 2024 high. To me, pulling it back indicates less of an extension than the 1-year chart indicates. This is an important way to regulate your emotions about setting up trades and remind yourself that just because you missed the rally doesn’t mean the entire opportunity is gone. This is the 200-week moving average in blue, indicating a near-perfect support line. Traders can ignore it. Too far from current prices. Similar to ABBV, I think a small amount of pullback that doesn’t violate the breakout level is a better entry than today. Long-term investors can start investing now without waiting. Disclosure: (none) All opinions expressed by CNBC Pro contributors are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, its parent or affiliate companies, and may have been previously disseminated on television, radio, the Internet, or another medium. The above is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice or a recommendation to purchase any securities or other financial assets. The content is general in nature and does not reflect any individual’s unique personal circumstances. The above may not be appropriate for your particular situation. Before making any financial decisions, you should strongly consider seeking the advice of your own financial or investment advisor. Investments involve risk. The analysis examples included in this article are examples only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Ritholtz Wealth Management, LLC. Josh Brown is the Chief Executive Officer of Riholtz Wealth Management and may maintain securities positions in the securities discussed. 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