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The healthcare sector is not doing so well. It's been a key target of the Trump administration since the start of the year, and the headwinds keep coming. Most recently, an effort to reduce drug prices in the US to match international pricing has frustrated Big Pharma executives — who have been attempting to curry favor with the administration by committing billions of dollars in supply chain investments in the U.S. The move also puts pressure on pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), which Trump called "middlemen" and accused them profiting off of drugs they have no role in making. That's on top of tariffs that have been impacting the medical technology sector and the threat of 25% tariffs on other pharmaceuticals.
There have been questions around the sector and its reputation as a defensive or safe play amid market volatility. Current indicators are signaling the reputation they once enjoyed may no longer be the case. To that end, the S&P 500 Health Care (SP500-35) sub-sector is now the worst-performing of the S&P year-to-date, Mizuho sector analyst Jared Holz said in a note to clients Wednesday. "The S&P Healthcare Index is now -5.6% YTD vs. the (flat) SPX.
As usual, need both Pharma and Managed Care to perform well to give Healthcare a good shot of keeping pace with the broader markets," he said. Two of the top stocks in the index are Eli Lilly (LLY) and United Health Group (UNH) — two mega-cap stocks that have recently been pummeled. UnitedHealth lost 18% in trading yesterday due to a CEO shakeup and pulling its 2025 guidance, while Lilly lost 12% last week after its competitor Novo Nordisk (NVO) sealed an exclusive formulary deal with one of the largest PBMs. SNP - Free Realtime Quote•USD (^SP500-35) Follow View Quote Details 1,511.77 - (-1.55%) As of 12:15:27 PM EDT. Market Open.
^SP500-35SPY Advanced Chart Holz emphasized that the pressure on the industry is a combination of factors. "The complexities and challenges facing Healthcare remain as pointed as we can ever recall. It is not one thing in particular. It is a little bit of everything. Given constant government related intervention (pressure), we do not believe Healthcare is at all defensive and rather emblematic of difficult to monitor risk factors requiring a great deal of patience," Holz said.
Truist's Jailendra Singh recently echoed a similar sentiment. "Everything has slowed down. The macro environment looks pretty uncertain," he told Yahoo Finance. Some experts believe the industry hasn't been safe for over a decade, in an increasingly difficult political climate. But that has been emphasized in recent months with the trading volatility.
Story Continues Bank of America Securities analyst Tim Anderson said as much, saying that when markets were melting down, healthcare did get a boost, But then Trump starts talking about drug pricing and tariffs on pharma, and that kind of reminded us ... it's not the safe sector that it used to be." Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee as AnjKhem on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem. For the latest earnings reports and analysis, earnings whispers and expectations, and company earnings news, click here Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance View Comments
Healthcare worst-performing S&P sub-sector YTD: Mizuho expert
May 15, 2025 01:59 AM AEST | By EODHD
