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AI and Tech Selloff Heats Up: Buy Big Pharma Stock LLY as a Safe Haven?
Key Takeaways
The massive AI-driven selloff is leaving investors looking for safe-haven stocks.
Buy Eli Lilly (LLY) for growth and value amid the AI selloff.
Artificial Intelligence stocks tanked again on Thursday, alongside almost everything else. The massive market-wide selloff is likely leaving investors looking for safe-haven stocks.
Today we dive into why investors might want to look far beyond AI stocks (even if some are tempted to buy the dip) as Wall Street quickly recalibrates the entire AI data center growth outlook after the blue wave.
One pocket of the market that’s already outpaced tech recently is healthcare and the broader pharmaceutical and biotech space.
History shows that the healthcare sector has often outperformed for years after previous boom-and-bust cycles faded.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Goldman Sachs recently pointed to long-term stretches from 2003 to 2007 and from 2013 to 2015 as bullish examples for healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks right now.
Let’s dive into why investors might want to buy Eli Lillyand/or broader industry-tracking ETFs like the State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV - Free Report) .
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Best Stocks to Buy Now Amid the AI Selloff and Hold Forever: LLY
Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) is one of the pharmaceutical titans. In fact, the industry-changing triumph of its GLP-1 drugs propelled LLY to become the first pharmaceutical/healthcare company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization (crossed that milestone in November 2025).
LLY develops and sells medicines for serious diseases, with a strong focus on diabetes, obesity, and related conditions. Today, its best-known and most successful products are GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, which are GLP-1 drugs used for type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Demand for Mounjaro (type 2 diabetes) and Zepbound (obesity) remains exceptionally strong. The two drugs generated combined sales of ~$16 billion in Q3—Mounjaro up 65% YoY and Zepbound 49% higher—accounting for ~65% of total revenue.
Eli Lilly is actively expanding the franchise. Zepbound gained an additional indication for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, while Mounjaro received a cardiovascular indication. The company is also rolling out Foundayo (orforglipron), its once-daily oral GLP-1 pill for weight loss.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Next-generation candidates such as the triple agonist retatrutide are advancing in late-stage trials with the potential to become additional multibillion-dollar products. Beyond GLP-1s, newer medicines including Kisunla (Alzheimer’s), Omvoh, Jaypirca, and Ebglyss are contributing to growth. Eli Lilly has also pursued a series of acquisitions to diversify into immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and gene editing.
Eli Lilly is projected to grow its revenue by 41% to $92.11 billion in 2026 and another 13% next year to reach $104.16 billion, tripling its 2023 total in the process. Meanwhile, it is expected to double its adjusted EPS between 2025 and 2027, driven by 44% YoY expansion in 2026 and 2027 to reach $50.04 next year vs. $24.21 in FY25.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The big pharma company’s stellar earnings growth outlook is even more impressive since it already expanded its bottom line by 280% between 2025 and 2023. Eli Lilly has topped our EPS estimates by an average of 27% in the past four quarters, and its FY27 estimate is up 9% in the past few months.
The company’s GLP-1s transformed LLY into a profit machine. Its blockbuster drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, combine huge demand (~40 million, or 12% of the U.S. population, has diabetes according to the CDC, while 115.2 million have prediabetes) alongside high profit margins and patent protection in the U.S. until ~2036 and beyond.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
LLY stock has soared ~1,668% in the past decade to blow away the S&P 500’s 280% and its Large Cap Pharma industry’s ~225%. The outperformance includes a ~430% run over the last five years vs. the benchmark’s 68%.
The stock ripped to new highs this week as tech started to tank. Eli Lilly shares did fall around 3% on Thursday, and it could face more near-term pressure alongside the market.
But Eli Lilly is trading at a nearly 50% discount to its peak at 30.9X forward 12-month earnings. It also pays a dividend, and none of its growth outlook is tied to lofty AI expectations.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
AI and Tech Selloff Heats Up: Buy Big Pharma Stock LLY as a Safe Haven?
Key Takeaways
Artificial Intelligence stocks tanked again on Thursday, alongside almost everything else. The massive market-wide selloff is likely leaving investors looking for safe-haven stocks.
Today we dive into why investors might want to look far beyond AI stocks (even if some are tempted to buy the dip) as Wall Street quickly recalibrates the entire AI data center growth outlook after the blue wave.
One pocket of the market that’s already outpaced tech recently is healthcare and the broader pharmaceutical and biotech space.
History shows that the healthcare sector has often outperformed for years after previous boom-and-bust cycles faded.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Goldman Sachs recently pointed to long-term stretches from 2003 to 2007 and from 2013 to 2015 as bullish examples for healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks right now.
Let’s dive into why investors might want to buy Eli Lilly and/or broader industry-tracking ETFs like the State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI - Free Report) and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV - Free Report) .
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Best Stocks to Buy Now Amid the AI Selloff and Hold Forever: LLY
Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) is one of the pharmaceutical titans. In fact, the industry-changing triumph of its GLP-1 drugs propelled LLY to become the first pharmaceutical/healthcare company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization (crossed that milestone in November 2025).
LLY develops and sells medicines for serious diseases, with a strong focus on diabetes, obesity, and related conditions. Today, its best-known and most successful products are GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, which are GLP-1 drugs used for type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Demand for Mounjaro (type 2 diabetes) and Zepbound (obesity) remains exceptionally strong. The two drugs generated combined sales of ~$16 billion in Q3—Mounjaro up 65% YoY and Zepbound 49% higher—accounting for ~65% of total revenue.
Eli Lilly is actively expanding the franchise. Zepbound gained an additional indication for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, while Mounjaro received a cardiovascular indication. The company is also rolling out Foundayo (orforglipron), its once-daily oral GLP-1 pill for weight loss.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Next-generation candidates such as the triple agonist retatrutide are advancing in late-stage trials with the potential to become additional multibillion-dollar products. Beyond GLP-1s, newer medicines including Kisunla (Alzheimer’s), Omvoh, Jaypirca, and Ebglyss are contributing to growth. Eli Lilly has also pursued a series of acquisitions to diversify into immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and gene editing.
Eli Lilly is projected to grow its revenue by 41% to $92.11 billion in 2026 and another 13% next year to reach $104.16 billion, tripling its 2023 total in the process. Meanwhile, it is expected to double its adjusted EPS between 2025 and 2027, driven by 44% YoY expansion in 2026 and 2027 to reach $50.04 next year vs. $24.21 in FY25.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The big pharma company’s stellar earnings growth outlook is even more impressive since it already expanded its bottom line by 280% between 2025 and 2023. Eli Lilly has topped our EPS estimates by an average of 27% in the past four quarters, and its FY27 estimate is up 9% in the past few months.
The company’s GLP-1s transformed LLY into a profit machine. Its blockbuster drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, combine huge demand (~40 million, or 12% of the U.S. population, has diabetes according to the CDC, while 115.2 million have prediabetes) alongside high profit margins and patent protection in the U.S. until ~2036 and beyond.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
LLY stock has soared ~1,668% in the past decade to blow away the S&P 500’s 280% and its Large Cap Pharma industry’s ~225%. The outperformance includes a ~430% run over the last five years vs. the benchmark’s 68%.
The stock ripped to new highs this week as tech started to tank. Eli Lilly shares did fall around 3% on Thursday, and it could face more near-term pressure alongside the market.
But Eli Lilly is trading at a nearly 50% discount to its peak at 30.9X forward 12-month earnings. It also pays a dividend, and none of its growth outlook is tied to lofty AI expectations.