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Eli Lilly Hits $1 Trillion Milestone: ETFs to Invest in

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Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) briefly crossed the $1 trillion market cap on Nov. 21, 2025 — becoming the first-ever health-care company to join the elite group mainly dominated by tech giants, as mentioned on CNBC. Shares touched around $1,059 on the day.

GLP-1 &GIP Leadership Fuels Rally

The stock has surged 36.2% this year, mainly backed by Lilly’s dominance over Novo Nordisk NVO in the booming GLP-1 drug market. Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro have become huge hits.

Mounjaro generated $6.52 billion in Q3, up 109% year over year, while Zepbound brought in $3.59 billion, a 184% jump from the prior year. Zepbound revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.45 billion, while the Mounjaro sales figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.48 billion.

Total revenues of $17.60 billion rose 54% year over year. Total revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.01 billion. Eli Lilly reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $7.02, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.02 per share. In the year-ago quarter, Lilly recorded earnings of $1.18 per share. Adjusted EPS included acquired IPR&D charges of 71 cents in the third quarter.

LLY Ups 2025 Sales and EPS Guidance

Lilly increased its 2025 full-year revenue and EPS guidance. In 2025, Lilly expects to record revenues in the range of $63.0 billion to $63.5 billion, up from the prior expectation of $60.0 billion to $62.0 billion. The earnings per share guidance was also increased from a range of $21.75 to $23.00, to $23.00 to $23.70.

The company raised its sales as well as earnings expectations for 2025, for the second time this year, backed by a strong performance year to date, mainly driven by the robust growth of Mounjaro and Zepbound and currency tailwinds.

The launch of Mounjaro and Zepbound in new international markets and improved supply from ramped-up production in the United States have led to strong sales growth in 2025.

A $150 Billion Weight-Loss Market

The weight-loss medication market could reach $150 billion, marking an uptick from the previous estimate of $105 billion, as quoted on Morgan Stanley. International adoption is likely to outpace that of the United States over the next 10 years. In 2024, this market had about $15 billion in sales.

Novo Nordisk remains a strong competitor of Eli Lilly in this segment, as mentioned on the same CNBC article.

How Lilly Shares Outdid Novo Nordisk?

Lilly’s big breakthrough came with the 2022 approval of tirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro) for diabetes. It instantly became the peer of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes injection Ozempic.

Eli Lilly then won approval in 2023 for tirzepatide as a treatment for obesity, which is sold as Zepbound and challenges Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, as mentioned on CNBC.

Unlike Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide drugs (Ozempic, Wegovy), which mimic GLP-1, tirzepatide targets both GLP-1 and GIP, enhancing appetite suppression and metabolic benefits, as quoted on the above-mentioned CNBC article.

ETFs in Focus 

Eli Lilly has substantial weight in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE - Free Report) , VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH - Free Report) , Harbor Health Care ETF (MEDI - Free Report) , Roundhill GLP-1 & Weight Loss ETF (OZEM - Free Report) , Horizon Kinetics Medical ETF (MEDX - Free Report) and Amplify Weight Loss Drug & Treatment ETF (THNR - Free Report) . These ETFs can be tapped to play the rising pharma stock. 


 

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