Eli Lilly 'On Its Way' To $1 Trillion Market Cap, Analysts Say: It's A 'Have' In A Sea Of 'Have Nots'

Eli Lilly And Co LLY “could be on its way to becoming a $1 trillion market cap company,” according to analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald.

The assessment comes on the heels of an earnings report that shows first-quarter revenue of $8.77 billion. That’s up 26% year-over-year, just marginally missing the consensus of $8.92 billion.

The Indianapolis-based company saw increases of 16% in volume and 10% in higher realized prices.

Eli Lilly posted an adjusted EPS of $2.58, beating the consensus of $2.46, higher than $1.62 a year ago. Here’s how analysts reacted:

• Cantor raised its price target from $815 to $885 with an Overweight rating, driven by earnings revisions. 
• BofA reiterated the Buy rating with a price target of $1,000.
• Truist maintains the Buy rating with a price target increased from $850 to $892.

Cantor: Despite the top-line miss that was widely anticipated due to supply constraints, Eli Lilly’s sales growth of 26% in Q1 2024 is still impressive, the analysts note. The industry average is mid-to-low single digits.

BofA Securities: While earnings beat and forecast raise is expected throughout 2024, the magnitude this early in the year impressed investors, particularly given recent questions on Lilly’s ability to manufacture enough supply for its incretin franchise.

With this backdrop, analysts highlight Lilly’s unparalleled growth profile and underscoring it’s a “have” in a sea of “have nots.”

Truist: The analyst notes that Mounjaro/Zepbound’s strong performance drove solid first-quarter revenues, and underlying demand seems healthy.

Truist sees progress made to address manufacturing constraints, which remain at the top of mind given that demand is expected to exceed supply throughout 2024.

Price Action: Eli Lilly shares are down 0.14% at $779.98 at the last check Wednesday.

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