6 Defensive Healthcare Stocks for 2023

As investors face another uncertain year for public equities, large-cap healthcare stocks remain an attractive defensive play. They offer a shot at insulating capital from the downturn many still expect to come.

That thinking buoyed the stock prices of big healthcare companies in 2022. The


Health Care Select Sector SDPR fund


(ticker: XLV), which tracks the healthcare sector, was down 4.6% in 2022 through Tuesday’s close, beating the broader


S&P 500


down about 20%.