The past six months have been a windfall for Jazz Pharmaceuticals’s shareholders. The company’s stock price has jumped 50.6%, hitting $163 per share. This was partly due to its solid quarterly results, and the run-up might have investors contemplating their next move.
Is there a buying opportunity in Jazz Pharmaceuticals, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Dive into our full research report to see our analyst team’s opinion, it’s free for active Edge members.
Why Is Jazz Pharmaceuticals Not Exciting?
We’re glad investors have benefited from the price increase, but we're cautious about Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Here are three reasons there are better opportunities than JAZZ and a stock we'd rather own.
1. Lackluster Revenue Growth
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within healthcare, a stretched historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Jazz Pharmaceuticals’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 4.7% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. 
2. EPS Trending Down
Analyzing the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) shows whether a company's incremental sales were profitable – for example, revenue could be inflated through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Sadly for Jazz Pharmaceuticals, its EPS declined by 8.7% annually over the last five years while its revenue grew by 10.6%. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
3. High Debt Levels Increase Risk
As long-term investors, the risk we care about most is the permanent loss of capital, which can happen when a company goes bankrupt or raises money from a disadvantaged position. This is separate from short-term stock price volatility, something we are much less bothered by.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals’s $5.41 billion of debt exceeds the $2.05 billion of cash on its balance sheet. Furthermore, its 5× net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio (based on its EBITDA of $652.6 million over the last 12 months) shows the company is overleveraged.
At this level of debt, incremental borrowing becomes increasingly expensive and credit agencies could downgrade the company’s rating if profitability falls. Jazz Pharmaceuticals could also be backed into a corner if the market turns unexpectedly – a situation we seek to avoid as investors in high-quality companies.
We hope Jazz Pharmaceuticals can improve its balance sheet and remain cautious until it increases its profitability or pays down its debt.
Final Judgment
Jazz Pharmaceuticals isn’t a terrible business, but it doesn’t pass our bar. After the recent surge, the stock trades at 7.6× forward P/E (or $163 per share). While this valuation is optically cheap, the potential downside is big given its shaky fundamentals. We're pretty confident there are superior stocks to buy right now. We’d suggest looking at the most dominant software business in the world.
Stocks We Like More Than Jazz Pharmaceuticals
The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
