Both have crushed the market in 2025.

Equity markets experienced significant volatility this year. Many investors feared that President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies would plunge the economy into a recession and lead to a full-blown stock-market meltdown. However, although the S&P 500 flirted with bear-market territory, it has since rebounded and performed relatively well for the year.

Even so, it always helps to buy shares of strong dividend stocks whose businesses can remain afloat when the economy tanks. Here are two companies that have what it takes: Novartis ( NVS 1.11% ) and Gilead Sciences ( GILD 1.92% ) .

The pharmaceutical advantage

The pharmaceutical industry is a defensive sector, meaning that drugmakers tend to perform relatively well even whe

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