Eli Lilly's one-two punch of weight-loss and diabetes treatments Zepbound and Mounjaro should drive the biopharma stock higher, said a Morgan Stanley analyst who raised his price target on LLY stock.
In a report called "Could LLY be the first $1 trillion biopharma stock?," Morgan Stanley analyst Terence Flynn hiked his price target to 950 from 805.
"At current levels, we believe LLY shares reflect $70 billion to $80 billion in early 2030s diabetes revenues, with $60 billion to $70 billion coming in the U.S.," Flynn said in the report. "We believe the key question for the stock is whether expectations for LLY's $70 billion to $80 billion in revenues in early 2030s will continue to go higher. Bottom line is we believe the risk/reward in LLY is still skewed to the upside."
Among technology stocks, Apple, Amazon.com, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Nvidia have attained a $1 trillion valuation or higher.
The market cap of LLY stock now is about $743 million.
On the stock market today, LLY stock rose more than 3% to 786.10 in midday trading.
LLY Stock: Strong Guidance
LLY stock has advanced 35% in 2024. It has soared 141% over the past year.
In the December quarter, Lilly's adjusted profit rose 19% to $2.49 per share while sales jumped 28% to $9.35 billion. That topped estimates of $2.30 in adjusted profit and $8.95 billion in revenue.
Eli Lilly forecast $40.4 billion to $41.6 billion in 2024 sales, easily above Wall Street's estimate for $39.27 billion. Lilly expects to earn an adjusted $12.20 to $12.70 per share. The midpoint of that outlook, $12.45, was slightly ahead of Eli Lilly stock analysts' forecasts for $12.39.
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