Biotech is resistant to AI disruption. Josh Brown likes these two stocks in the industry
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — One of the things we’ve tried to do with this column on the Best Stocks in the Market is make new introductions to you and tell you the stories of stocks you’ve never looked at before. We’re also trying to make sure we look back at some of the trades that are still alive so we can keep you posted. We wrote about a bunch of biotech giants last year, and now we’re going to check in on Amgen (AMGN) and AbbVie (ABBV) once again. As Sean explains below, these stocks have been left out of the disruption conversation given how physical their technology is — molecules and proteins — as opposed to bits and bytes. And while growth investors have been gravitating toward them because of their undisruptability (made up word, was trying not to say HALOness), there’s an even more exciting reason to keep them on your radar. Let’s take a look at some of our high level Best Stocks data first and then we’ll check in with our big biotech names. Here’s Sean… Sector leaderboard As of Mar. 9, there are 214 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Biotech Sean — There’s been a lot of discourse around AI. Who it benefits, who it disrupts, the energy needed to utilize it, etc. etc. Josh literally coined the term “HALO” which we have talked about extensively in this column. One fun thought experiment is going down a list of industries and trying to determine if it’s HALO or not. Aerospace and Defense? HALO Software Applications? Not HALO Metal Fabrication? HALO Consulting? Not HALO Here’s one I don’t hear too often, but is breaking out with the rest of HALO this year. Biotech is HALO. Drug manufacturing requires specialized facilities, logistics and biologic infrastructure that can’t be vibe-coded overnight. Without even mentioning the FDA, approval pipelines, patent exclusivity and clinical trials. AI is compressing the most high value parts of that industry. Identifying cures for diseases, designing treatments, the whole value chain is getting better, more efficient and higher-scale with the use of AI. We hit on both AbbVie (ABBV) and Amgen (AMGN) in November of last year. Let’s check in on both of those trades as the industry gains momentum in 2026. The chart below is the total return since we wrote about them on Nov. 17: AbbVie, Inc. (ABBV): Sean — AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company focused on immunology, oncology and neuroscience, with a couple of headliner drugs you probably hear on TV; Skyrizi and Rinvoq. The company posted record full-year revenues of $61.2 billion in 2025, up 8.6% year over year, with the ex-Humira (they lost patent exclusivity) growth platform accelerating at 14.5% in Q4. At the time of writing from our piece in November, AbbVie was a 10-year uptrend stock pushing toward a retest of its October 2025 highs. The call was to use the rising 200-day moving average as a rolling weekly stop, representing about 13% downside from then-current levels. Josh — The 200-day was tested in early January, and it held. I actually love how vicious the rally was off that support level and I’m willing to bet it will hold again on the next test. In the meanwhile, it’s an upward trending support line which is key. AbbVie is trading around $230, sitting just above its rising 50-day moving average near $225 and well above that 200-day (now at around $213). The stock has spent the last several months consolidating sideways after the strong advance that began in mid-2025, with repeated pullbacks holding above the longer-term trend. For risk management, the 50-day around $225 is the first area to watch — but that’s too close to today’s price. I’d focus on the 200-day instead. As long as the stock holds that level, the consolidation remains constructive and the broader uptrend is intact. A decisive break below the 200-day would represent the first meaningful technical damage and suggest the range is resolving lower rather than preparing for a breakout above the recent highs in the $240 area. Amgen, Inc. (AMGN): Sean — Amgen specializes in human therapeutics across cardiovascular, bone health, inflammation and oncology. In 2025 AMGN reported revenues of $36.8 billion, up 10% year over year with 18 products hitting record sales. In November, Amgen had just cleared a meaningful level at the September 2024 highs on the back of a strong earnings report, with RSI in the mid-70s suggesting the stock needed a week or two to cool off. The view was that a low-volume pullback that holds the $320s breakout level would be the better entry, while longer-term investors were comfortable getting in without waiting. Josh — Here comes a test of the uptrend for Amgen. I actually like it as a lower risk entry here provided you honor thy stops. AMGN is pulling back toward its rising 50-day moving average near $352 after a strong advance that began in November. The stock ran from roughly $300 to the high $370s over that stretch and is now digesting those gains, with momentum cooling back toward neutral. Price remains well above the 200-day around $312, so the longer-term uptrend is still clearly intact. For risk management, the 50-day around $352 is the first test. If that level fails to hold, there is visible support from prior consolidation in the $340–345 area, which also lines up with the late-January breakout zone. A deeper break below that area would open the door to a move toward the 200-day near $312 and signal a more meaningful trend reset rather than a routine pullback within the advance. That’s where the uptrend officially breaks and we want to be doing something else. 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