Prediction: These 2 Under-the-Radar Stocks Could Beat the Market in the Next 5 Years

Key Points

• Axsome Therapeutics’ lineup already has strong momentum, and things will get better as it earns new approvals.

• Exelixis has found tremendous success with Cabometyx and is already looking for its next-gen cancer drug.

• 10 stocks we like better than Axsome Therapeutics ›

Every investor wants to outperform the market, but it’s a challenging feat to achieve. That’s why few manage to do it consistently over long periods. What’s the best approach to take? Day trading is probably not it. Some research suggests that the overwhelming majority of day traders not only fail to beat the market, but actually lose money over the long run.

A better strategy is to invest in quality stocks with attractive long-term prospects, and stick with them through thick and thin. Two companies worth considering in this regard are Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AXSM) and Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL). Here’s why these two drugmakers could outperform broader equities in the next five years.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Axsome Therapeutics

Axsome Therapeutics is a mid-cap biotech company that currently has three products on the market: depression medicine Auvelity, migraine treatment Symbravo, and Sunosi, which helps manage excessive daytime sleepiness due to narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea. These medicines, especially Auvelity, are currently driving strong revenue growth for Axsome. In the second quarter, its revenue increased by 72% year over year to $150 million.

Things should improve even further for Axsome over the next five years, thanks to ongoing clinical and regulatory progress. First, Symbravo is still new to the market, having been launched in June after earning approval in January. The medicine’s total addressable market looks attractive. Some 39 million patients in the U.S. live with migraines; while there are therapy options, more than 70% of patients have inadequate responses to oral migraine treatments, and more than 80% discontinue treatment within a year. With this vast opportunity ahead, Symbravo should be a meaningful growth driver for Axsome Therapeutics well into the next decade.

Second, Axsome should earn several brand-new approvals or label expansions. Auvelity performed very well in clinical studies in agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), another condition with a high unmet need. There are 7 million AD patients in the U.S., with about 70% experiencing agitation. Yet there’s only one medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for agitation due to AD, and other forms of interventions and treatment are often ineffective. That opens up an attractive opportunity for Auvelity; the therapy is well on its way to achieving blockbuster status at its peak.

Furthermore, the company’s AXS-12 has passed phase 3 studies in narcolepsy and is progressing toward a regulatory submission. Axsome has initiated, or is about to initiate, several other late-stage clinical trials, including Sunosi for ADHD, and AXS-14 for fibromyalgia. Axsome Therapeutics’ strong revenue growth and deep late-stage pipeline should help drive its success over the next five years, enabling it to outperform the market.

2. Exelixis

Exelixis, an oncology specialist, is best known for developing a medicine called Cabometyx, which treats certain types of liver and kidney cancer. The therapy is the most prescribed of its type in renal cell carcinoma (the most common form of kidney cancer). It has proved to be its own pipeline of sorts, grinding out plenty of label expansions over the years. And it continues to drive strong top-line growth for Exelixis.

It may not seem that way from the company’s second-quarter results: Total revenue dropped by almost 11% year over year to $568.3 million. However, this was due to lower collaboration revenue, resulting from a one-time milestone payment recorded in the second quarter of 2024. During the second quarter, Exelixis’ net product revenue totaled $520 million, 19% higher than the year-ago period. Cabometyx should continue helping power sales through the next five years, especially since the company was able to fend off generic competition until early 2030.

In the meantime, Exelixis is doubling down on its strategy to develop cancer therapies where there are high unmet needs, and should earn approval for another brand-new medicine. Its candidate zanzalintinib is being tested in metastatic colorectal cancer, and recently improved overall survival in a phase 3 trial. Though five-year survival rates are high for early-stage colorectal cancer, they are low once the disease has metastasized, so there’s a need for new treatment options; zanzalintinib could be it. The medicine is also being tested across several other forms of cancer.

The company has additional candidates in the pipeline. Strong clinical and regulatory progress, along with Cabometyx’s growing revenue, should help Exelixis deliver strong returns through the end of the decade.

Should you invest $1,000 in Axsome Therapeutics right now?

Before you buy stock in Axsome Therapeutics, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Axsome Therapeutics wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,872!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,092,280!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 189% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 29, 2025

Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Exelixis. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Axsome Therapeutics and Exelixis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.