Healthcare stocks completed their best quarter on record, with the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, or XBI, up 80% over the past 12 months and outperforming most other equity sectors. UBS global head of biotechnology equity research Michael Yee said a series of major clinical successes, along with drug-pricing agreements that were less onerous than feared, has reduced uncertainty around the industry. President Trump added nine mostly midsize drugmakers, including Alcon, Astellas Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals, to the pricing framework. The companies pledged $19.6 billion for U.S. manufacturing and agreed to provide discounted drugs to every state Medicaid program. The White House said 17 companies had already joined, bringing participation to 26 companies representing 90% of the domestic pharmaceutical market; Trump said the deals would save Americans more than $600 billion. Yee highlighted Merck, Revolution Medicines and Bristol Myers Squibb as stocks with further clinical or regulatory catalysts. He said pharmaceutical companies are directing record cash holdings toward research and development after years of low valuations, while valuations remain reasonable and Washington-related pricing pressure is easing. In his view, the sector’s advance resembles the beginning of a longer re-rating rather than a brief rebound.