Analysts reset targets for Eli Lilly shares

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Eli Lilly positively wowed investors with its second-quarter results on Aug. 8.

The stock jumped 9.5% that day and an additional 5.5% on Aug. 9.

For the week, Eli Lilly  (LLY)  shares ended at $891.68, up 10.8%, compared with the flat performance of the S&P 500, and they've soared 53% so far in 2024.

What's next for the pharmaceutical giant? Analysts think "Resoundingly more." Most have risen their price targets to $1,000 and more. They see the potential for continued revenue growth as huge.

Related: Morgan Stanley analysts reveal Fed interest rate outlook

In its earnings presentation, the company raised its 2024 revenue guidance from $42.4 billion to $43.6 billion up to $45.4 billion to $46.6 billion. It also raised its full-year earnings guidance from $13.04 to $13.55 a share up to $15.10 to $15.60.

Here's a snapshot of some of the analyst comments:

Morgan Stanley. Stock rating: Outperform. Analysts rated the stock a "top pick," adding it had the "strongest growth profile" within its coverage universe. The investment house raised 12-month target price from $1,083 to $1,106.

Wells Fargo. Stock rating: Outperform. Target price raised from $875 to $1,000. Analyst Mohit Bonsal said Lilly's obesity drug Zepbound and its diabetic drug Mounjaro represent "a $100-billion global opportunity."

BMO Capital. Stock rating: outperform. Target raised from $1,001 to $1,101. Analysts noted that Lilly has issues successive "healthy" raises of revenue and earnings guidance.

JPMorgan. Target raised from $1,000 to $1,050. Its note projects "significant upsides to 2025 estimates."

Bank of America. Target raised from $1,000 to $1,150. Second-quarter earnings, the note said, "was substantially ahead of guidance. Revenue guidance for 2024 was raised by $3 billion. Earlier guidance was for a $1 billion revenue increase.

Lilly's type-2 diabetes treatment Mounjaro, which has the technical name of tirzepatide, generated $3.1 billion in revenue in the quarter, 27% of the company's total $11.3 billion. Its weight-loss drug Zepbound's revenue hit $1.2 billion from practically nothing a year ago.

Expected to generate big revenues are Lilly's breast-cancer drug Verzenio, and Kisunia, a drug developed to hold back Alzheimer's patients' memory loss.

A Provo, Utah, pharmacist holds boxes of Eli Lilly's Mounjaro diabetic treatment. <p>Bloomberg&sol;Getty Images</p>
A Provo, Utah, pharmacist holds boxes of Eli Lilly's Mounjaro diabetic treatment.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Much of the growth and stock performance has come during the tenure of David Ricks, CEO since 2017.

In a Time magazine article, Shantanu Narayan, CEO of tech giant Oracle, described Ricks, an Oracle director, as "equal parts visionary and pragmatist."