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11/06/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/06/2026 07:01
Is Eli Lilly Stock Worth More Than Its Competitors
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Eli Lilly (LLY) grows faster and keeps a wider operating margin than Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, AbbVie or Amgen. Yet AbbVie stock costs more per dollar of net earnings, though not per dollar of operating profit. Lilly raised its 2026 sales forecast on October 29, so buyers have fresh reason to check what they are paying for. How far ahead of its rivals is Lilly, and what are buyers paying for that lead?
Eli Lilly Grows Fastest Yet Costs Less Than AbbVie On Net Earnings
Measured against net earnings, buyers pay less for Lilly than for AbbVie and only a little more than for Johnson & Johnson. Both peers' net earnings sit well below their operating profit, though. Against operating profit, Lilly trades at 27.5 times, above Johnson & Johnson's 25.7 and AbbVie's 21.5, even as Lilly stays far ahead of both on growth. Over their latest four quarters, sales at Lilly grew 45.5%, compared with 7.8% at Johnson & Johnson. Lilly also kept 51.3% of its sales as operating profit, against 25.7% at Johnson & Johnson. Even so, Lilly stock trades at 44.1 times earnings, sitting not far above the 40.8 for Johnson & Johnson.
AbbVie posted 10.7% sales growth over its latest four quarters. The stock trades at 49.3 times earnings, carrying the highest P/E among the four companies that maintained a profit in each of their latest four quarters. Merck and Pfizer each posted a net loss in at least one of those quarters, leaving their P/Es not comparable.
| LLY | JNJ | MRK | PFE | ABBV | AMGN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Fiscal Quarters | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-27 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-27 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) |
| Market Value (USD billion) | 1217 | 656 | 363 | 168 | 510 | 249 |
| P/E | 44.1 | 40.8 | 147.8 (not in the P/E rank) | 41.6 (not in the P/E rank) | 49.3 | 26.5 |
| Revenue Growth | 45.5% | 7.8% | 4.9% | 1.3% | 10.7% | 8.2% |
| Operating Margin | 51.3% | 25.7% | 9.2% | 26.1% | 36% | 32.4% |
| Total Return, Incl. Dividends, 2025-11-04 to 2026-11-05 | 51.4% | 49% | 80.4% | 29.7% | 37.5% | 59.4% |
Data as of 11/5/2026. Revenue growth, operating margin and the net income in the P/E refer to each company's four fiscal quarters in the first row. Revenue growth compares those periods against the four quarters before. A P/E marked "not in the P/E rank" indicates a company whose net income was below zero in at least one of those four quarters.
Most Of Eli Lilly's Sales Come From Two Drugs
Lilly's obesity and diabetes drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, brought in more than $16 billion in fiscal Q3 2026. That accounted for about two-thirds of Lilly's revenue for the quarter. The two drugs added $6 billion in sales from a year earlier, making up most of the nearly $7 billion rise in total revenue at Lilly.
Lilly is selling far more of these drugs. U.S. revenue rose 34% in the quarter. Management attributed that increase mainly to higher volumes of Zepbound and Mounjaro. Prices moved the other way: excluding a favorable adjustment to rebate estimates, U.S. prices fell 10%.
What Eli Lilly Expects For 2026
Lilly raised its 2026 revenue forecast on October 29. The company forecast $91.5 billion at the midpoint, up from $86 billion in August. Its earnings per share forecast slipped to $35.50 from $36, which Reuters tied to deal charges. Management also said about $2 billion of 2026 revenue came from one-time items, mainly milestone payments and changes to rebate estimates. It does not expect those items to recur.
The risk to a holder is that growth keeps slowing. Revenue at Lilly grew 55.5% from a year earlier in fiscal Q1 2026, then 47.7% in Q2. Revenue in fiscal Q3 2026 rose 38.6%, marking the slowest growth of the three quarters. Management said items such as milestones and rebate-estimate changes added about $900 million to Q3 revenue. Management expects lower prices to remain a drag on revenue, with higher volumes more than making up for them, as in past years.
Buyers paying more for Lilly's earnings than for Johnson & Johnson's appear to be betting that Lilly keeps selling more Mounjaro and Zepbound faster than its U.S. prices fall. Lilly has done so through fiscal Q3 2026, though its growth slowed in each of the last two quarters. Revenue growth in Lilly's fiscal Q4 2026 report, expected in February 2027, is the number to watch.
How Much Eli Lilly Do You Already Own?
If you own an S&P 500 or Nasdaq fund, you already own Eli Lilly, alongside the same few giants that lead those funds. The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio takes a different route: 30 quality companies in equal weight, so no single stock dominates. Since its inception in September 2020 it has returned 105%, ahead of a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap and Russell 2000.
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Insight Guru Inc. published this content on November 06, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 06, 2026 at 13:01 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]