LLY Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, headquartered in Indianapolis and employing about 47,000 people. Its biggest business by far is a class of drugs called GLP-1s, sold as Mounjaro (for diabetes) and Zepbound (for obesity) — medicines that help the body regulate blood sugar and appetite. These drugs have driven explosive growth: revenue jumped 45% in 2025 to over $65 billion, and Lilly's total market value now exceeds $1.1 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies on earth.

What makes Lilly interesting is just how much of its value rides on this one franchise — an estimated 86% of the company's worth comes from Mounjaro and Zepbound combined. The company has secured patent protection into the 2040s and is investing heavily in new manufacturing capacity and next-generation drugs (including new pipeline candidates and an oral version of the medicine), spending that weighs on near-term cash flow but builds capacity for future demand.

The key risk is concentration: with so much value tied to two drugs, anything that slows the obesity/diabetes drug market — new competition, disappointing real-world results, or pricing and insurance pushback — would hit the stock hard. Different valuation approaches land anywhere from about $1,050 to $1,350 per share (versus a current price around $1,217), showing genuine disagreement among analysts about how large and durable this market will prove to be.