Eli Lilly stock is a ‘buy’ after its blockbuster Q2

Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) has already gained 45% year-to-date but a Jefferies analyst is convinced that the stock is not out of juice just yet.

Eli Lilly stock could climb another 18%

On Wednesday, Akash Tewari upgraded the pharmaceutical behemoth to “buy” and raised his price objective to $615 – up another 18% from here.

The analyst turned bullish on Eli Lilly stock primarily because of Mounjaro (GLP-1) – the company’s obesity drug that he expects will eventually be on the list of biggest drug classes of all time.

Tewari was particularly uplifted after peer Novo Nordisk said its weight-loss drug was effective in lowering the risk of cardiovascular events by as much as 20% (read more).

NVO opens door to broader payer adoption and potential CMS coverage for GLP-1 class. We were sceptical that NVO would show 15%+ benefit, but we were wrong. SELECT had a home-run result.

Lilly saw its profit grow 85% in Q2

Earlier this week, Eli Lilly reported a whopping 85% year-on-year increase in its quarterly profit and raised its full-year guidance.

The Jefferies analyst now estimates peak Mounjaro sales at about $70 billion. Tewari also told clients in a research note today:

It’s hard to argue that obesity class can be characterised as short-duration treatment market. If this is the case, we don’t need meaningful penetration into obesity market to see meaningful upside to numbers.

Last month, the multinational bought Versanis Bio for nearly $2.0 billion to expand its footprint in obesity drugs. Eli Lilly stock also currently pays a dividend yield of 0.86%.

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