Published on 14 Nov 2023 on Insider Monkey via Yahoo Finance

10 Best Performing Healthcare ETFs in 2023

In this piece, we will take a look at the ten best performing healthcare ETFs in 2023. If you want to skip our overview of the healthcare sector, then take a look at the 5 Best Performing Healthcare ETFs in 2023.

The healthcare industry is one of the biggest in the world. It is also one of the most unique sectors on the stock market, as healthcare stocks are made of both consumer discretionary and cyclical firms. This often means that during a time of economic turmoil, the broader healthcare sector can lag broader stock indexes in losses as the defensive portion hedges losses. For those out of the loop, defensive stocks are those companies that sell essential products such as food. Cyclical stocks are growth stocks that perform well when the economy is growing. To learn more about defensive and cyclical stocks, you can check out 12 Defensive Healthcare Dividend Stocks To Invest In and 11 Best Consumer Cyclical Stocks To Buy Now.

Within the healthcare sector, mega pharma giants such as Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) are somewhat defensive. This is because these firms often sell drugs that are essential for the normal daily functioning of people with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. On the flip side, the cyclical sector of the healthcare industry involves high risk and high growth firms such as biotechnology and genomic companies. These firms, such as Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP), often invest millions of dollars in developing new technology often years before they can secure regulatory approval and turn a profit.