2 Top Stocks Down 16% and 17% This Year to Buy and Hold

Most people love a bargain; investors do too

Purchasing s of companies that can perform well over long periods is already pretty exciting, but it's even more so when they can be scooped up from the discount bin

And there's no need to wait for a major stock-market meltdown to do that

Stocks facing company-specific issues for which the market has punished them -- but from which they can recover -- offer attractive bargain opportunities

But they remain excellent long-term investment options, especially at current levels

Image source: Getty Images

Merck Merck is fast apaching the loss of patent exclusivity for Keytruda, its biggest growth driver by far

The cancer medicine should start facing biosimilars in the U

By the end of the decade

Although that still looks far away, drugmakers must plan for major patent losses years in advance

And Merck could face non-biosimilar competition before that, including from Summit Therapeutics' mising therapy, ivonescimab

These upcoming challenges are weighing on the stock, but for long-term investors, Merck remains attractive at its current levels

The company's subcutaneous (SC) version of Keytruda has already duced positive phase 3 results

This new formulation of the medicine will help extend its patent exclusivity into the next decade while taking on many of the original's indications

Why would the SC version find any success at all compared to the original, intravenous formulation

The answer is that SC Keytruda is easier and faster to administer

It also simplified things for physicians, reducing the time they spend preparing and administering the medicine by 45

Expect the new version to be massively successful, just the old

And although ivonescimab could pose a challenge, it will take a long time for that medicine to get apvals and label expansions across the range of Keytruda's long list of indications

Meanwhile, Merck will continue to innovate

The company's brand-new apvals include Winrevair, a medicine for pulmonary arterial hypertension, and Enflonsia, a vaccine for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

Merck has a deep pipeline and generates substantial revenue and fits

It also offers a reliable dividend gram

And the stock's forward price-to-earnings ratio was recently just 9. 1, compared to an average of 16. 3 for the broader healthcare industry, which includes companies other than pharmaceutical stocks

Merck's s might be down significantly this year, but there is plenty of upside for investors willing to stay the course

Bristol Myers Squibb Bristol Myers Squibb is facing the same blem, with the upcoming U

Patent expiration for its cancer medicine Opdivo

And over the past few years, it has had to deal with the loss of patent exclusivity for Revlimid and Sprycel, two cancer drugs; the former used to be its top-selling duct

Revenue moved in the wrong direction in the first quarter due to recent patent cliffs, but the company is also making terrific gress in the right direction

In December, BMS earned apval for a subcutaneous version of Opdivo, which will help mitigate the losses it will incur when that duct faces biosimilar competition

One of the most important from that bunch was Reblozyl, a medicine for anemia in patients with beta-thalassemia

The company's growth portfolio, composed mostly of newer ducts, is doing well

The drugmaker also has a robust pipeline that is expected to yield additional apvals

BMS may be facing challenges at present, but its recent apvals and ability to develop new ducts should help it navigate these difficult times

In the meantime, the stock appears to be significantly undervalued, with a forward P/E ratio of just 7

At current levels, Bristol Myers Squibb might be a steal

Sper Junior Bakiny has no position in any of the stocks mentioned

The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, and Summit Therapeutics

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.