12 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Invest in According to Analysts

9. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN)

Average Share Price Upside Potential as of January 31: 50.85%

Market Cap: $73.95 billion

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) is an American biotechnology company that is focused on developing and commercializing medicines for patients with a range of diseases, including eye, cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurological conditions.

During its recent Q3 2024 earnings call on October 31, the company announced that it has around 40 programs in clinical development, with pivotal data for itepekimab in COPD expected in 2025. Revenue for the quarter was posted at $3.7 billion, up 11% from last year, driven by a robust performance across its product portfolio. It was another strong quarter for Dupixent – a drug for inflammatory diseases that it develops with Sanofi – which saw a 24% year-over-year surge in global revenue.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) generated around $2.6 billion in free cash flow during the first nine months of 2024 and ended the quarter with $15.6 billion of cash and marketable securities less debt. The company also repurchased $1.6 billion of shares during the first nine months, including $738 million in Q3.

Wall Street analysts are bullish on the stock, with a consensus Buy rating and an average share price upside potential of 47.45%. Investor sentiment also remains strong. Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“We purchased Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN), a biopharmaceutical company that was built on a foundation in basic scientific research and antibody development. The company has successfully developed several blockbuster medicines, including Eylea and Eylea HD for retinal diseases (such as wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy) and Dupixent for immunological and inflammatory diseases (such as atopic dermatitis, asthma, and COPD). While Eylea is nearing the end of its patent life and faces potential biosimilar competition, the company has been transitioning patients to Eylea HD, which is a higher dose, longer-acting formulation of Eylea, and Dupixent is growing rapidly through indication expansion. Beyond the current product portfolio, Regeneron has an exciting new product pipeline with over 35 candidates in various stages of development, including a novel treatment for treating severe food allergy, a combination checkpoint inhibitor therapy for melanoma, lung cancer and other solid tumors, biospecific antibodies for blood cancers, and Factor XI antibodies for blood clot prevention, among others. Based on Regeneron’s track record of success discovering and developing new drugs, we are optimistic the pipeline will deliver some successes, which we think will drive upside in the stock.”