Are Wall Street Analysts Bullish on Eli Lilly Stock?
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With a market cap of $736.1 billion, Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) is a leading American pharmaceutical firm headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1876, the company has a longstanding history of innovation, including being the first to mass-produce insulin in the 1920s and pioneering the use of recombinant DNA to create human insulin in the 1980s.
Shares of the drugmaker have underperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. LLY shares have decreased marginally over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has gained 8.6%. However, in 2025, LLY stock has risen marginally, compared to $SPX's 4.3% YTD fall.
Looking closer, Eli Lilly and Company has outpaced the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLV) 5.1% fall over the past 52 weeks and a 1.6% drop in this year.
On May 1, Eli Lilly shares fell 8.3% despite posting strong Q1 2025 results that beat analyst expectations, with non-GAAP EPS of $3.34 on $12.73 billion in revenue, driven by soaring sales of its GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Investor sentiment, however, soured after the company cut its full-year earnings forecast due to a $1.57 billion charge tied to a recent cancer treatment acquisition. While revenue guidance remained unchanged, the lowered EPS outlook, coupled with uncertainty around potential new tariffs, weighed heavily on the stock.
For fiscal 2025, which ends in December, analysts expect LLY’s non-GAAP earnings to rise 70% to $22.08 per share. The company's earnings surprise history is mixed. It beat the consensus estimates in two of the last four quarters while missing on two other occasions.
Among the 25 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy.” That’s based on 21 “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” and three “Holds.”
This configuration is slightly more bullish than a month ago, with 19 “Strong Buy” ratings on the stock.
On May 2, UBS Group AG (UBS) lowered its price target on Eli Lilly from $1,100 to $1,050 while maintaining a “Buy” rating, citing a strong Q1 2025 performance that was nonetheless clouded by emerging concerns.
LLY’s mean price target of $1,001.09 represents a premium of 28.9% from the current price levels. The Street-high price target of $1,190 implies a modest potential upside of 53.3%.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.