Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) stock is trading higher on Friday on continued momentum following better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and a guidance raise on Thursday.
Q3 Financial Results Beat Wall Street Estimates
Adjusted earnings rose to $7.48 per share, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $6.50. Revenue increased 39% year over year to $24.397 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of $22.61 billion.
Worldwide Mounjaro revenue surged 65% to $10.7 billion, and U.S. Zepbound revenue jumped 48% to $5.3 billion.
Wall Street Analysts Raise Eli Lilly Price Targets
After the upbeat earnings, several analysts raised their price forecasts on Eli Lilly.
Scotiabank analyst Louise Chen maintained a Sector Outperform rating, while raising the price forecast from $1,300 to $1,605 on increased 2026 and 2027 earnings estimates, citing multiple expansion.
“We think this is deserved because LLY’s execution continues to outpace Street expectations,” analyst Chen wrote on Thursday.
“LLY will maintain its leadership in obesity for the foreseeable future with potential next-generation products including retatrutide, eloralintide and others, while it continues to acquire new products/platforms,” Chen wrote.
Other analysts update
- Truist Securities reiterated a Buy rating, while raising the price forecast from $1,376 to $1,612.
- RBC Capital maintained an Outperform rating, while lifting the price forecast from $1,500 to $1,600.
- Argus Research maintained a Buy rating, while raising the price forecast from $1,300 to $1,550.
- Wells Fargo maintained an Overweight rating, but increased the price forecast from $1,330 to $1,500.
Eli Lilly raised its 2026 sales guidance from $85 billion-$87 billion to $91 billion-$92 billion versus a consensus of $88.848 billion.
The company lowered its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance from $35.50-$36.50 per share to $35.00-$36.00 per share, compared with the consensus of $34.04.
The updated earnings guidance reflects acquired IPR&D charges from recent business development activity, including AtaiBeckley and Merida Biosciences.
Eli Lilly CEO on Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program And Growth Drivers
During Lilly’s third-quarter earnings call, CEO David Ricks said Lilly was assessing whether “more middle-income households would be interested in improving their health and losing weight at scale.”
He said that factor, along with uptake of the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program, “turned out to be positive for us,” with both factors contributing to roughly a $10 billion improvement from Lilly’s initial guidance.
LLY Price Action: Eli Lilly shares were up 3.60% at $1423.15 at the time of publication on Friday. The stock is trading at a new 52-week high, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock
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