NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 13:21 ET — Market closed
- U.S. healthcare stocks ended the first session of 2026 modestly higher on Friday.
- Drugmakers planned list-price increases for at least 350 branded medicines, Reuters reported.
- Traders are watching next week’s U.S. jobs data and a run of late-January healthcare earnings.
Drugmakers are lifting U.S. list prices on hundreds of medicines as 2026 begins, putting drug-pricing politics back in focus for healthcare investors. The sector finished higher in Friday’s session, the last U.S. trading day before the weekend.
Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 350 branded medicines for 2026, including vaccines for COVID-19, RSV and shingles, as well as Pfizer’s cancer drug Ibrance, Reuters reported, citing data from healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. The median list-price increase is about 4%, and the changes do not reflect rebates to pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen who negotiate drug discounts for insurers — or other reductions, the report said. Pfizer planned the most increases, while some companies also cut prices, including a more than 40% reduction for the diabetes drug Jardiance.
The timing matters because many companies make U.S. price adjustments in early January, when patients and payers are resetting coverage and budgets for the year. It also lands as the Trump administration keeps pressing the industry to show price cuts, raising the risk that drug pricing becomes a headline driver again for large-cap pharma.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) closed up 0.46% at $155.51 on Friday, after trading between $153.58 and $155.56. Pfizer gained 1.12% to $25.18, Eli Lilly rose 0.51% to $1,080.36 and Johnson & Johnson added 0.19% to $207.35.
Wall Street ended mixed, with the S&P 500 and Dow posting gains and the Nasdaq slipping slightly, while U.S. Treasury yields rose and the dollar firmed, Reuters reported. The benchmark 10-year yield ended near 4.19%, a level that can weigh on higher-growth stocks and keep investors rotating into steadier groups.
“The market is looking for direction,” said Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. A U.S. jobs report due Jan. 9 is expected to show 55,000 new jobs, according to a Reuters poll, and CPI inflation data is scheduled for Jan. 13, while futures markets imply little chance of a rate cut at the Fed’s late-January meeting. Reuters
For healthcare, traders will be listening for how executives frame pricing scrutiny and the gap between list and net prices — the amount companies actually collect after rebates and discounts. That commentary can swing sentiment quickly, particularly for large drugmakers with heavy U.S. exposure.
Investors are also watching for any knock-on effects in managed care and providers if drug costs keep climbing. Those parts of the sector can be sensitive to utilization and pharmacy spending trends, especially heading into annual guidance resets.
Before the next session, attention stays on the data tape as markets look for confirmation on whether slowing growth is pulling inflation down without a sharper hit to employment. Any fresh Washington headlines on drug pricing could also move large pharma names, even if net prices differ from list prices.
Johnson & Johnson is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results and hold an earnings call on Jan. 21, according to the company’s investor calendar. UnitedHealth Group will release full-year results and provide 2026 guidance on Jan. 27 before the market opens, the company said.
Eli Lilly is set to host its fourth-quarter earnings call on Feb. 4, according to its investor events listing.
On the chart, XLV’s Friday low near $153.58 is an early support marker, while the $155.56 intraday high sits as the nearest resistance level. A break either way could set the tone for the sector’s first full trading week of 2026.
