1. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 115
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) tops our list for being one of the best pharmaceutical stocks. It develops, manufactures, discovers, and sells pharmaceutical products. These goods cover immunology, neurology, diabetes, oncology, and other treatments. Due to the company’s robust financials and its in-demand GLP-1 medications, which are still in the early stages of development and are used to treat diabetes and obesity, investors are optimistic about the company.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) operates well, and in fiscal 2024, it announced a revenue increase of 32% on a YoY basis, surpassing its initial projection by $4 billion. In fiscal Q4 2024, the corporation achieved significant strides in all of its strategic deliverables. The company’s Mounjaro and Zepbound medications saw great acceptance, which helped revenue climb by 45% during the quarter.
The company formed a partnership with AdvanCell on February 10 to use targeted alpha treatments to improve cancer treatment. The partnership intends to accelerate clinical development for novel radiopharmaceuticals by fusing AdvanCell’s Pb-212 production technology and infrastructure with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)’s experience in medication manufacture. The corporation is anticipated to have a great chance to investigate Pb-212-based treatments and expand its line of cancer treatments.
Tim Anderson of Bank of America Securities maintained a Buy rating on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in a report published on April 9. A 37.73% increase from current levels is implied by its consensus price objective of $736.93. LLY received special attention in the Q4 2024 investor letter from Aristotle Atlantic Partners, LLC. This is what the company says:
“Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) contributed to performance in the fourth quarter. While shares underperformed, our underweight position versus the benchmark resulted in a positive contribution to relative returns. Lilly shares were weak following an uncharacteristic third-quarter earnings miss driven by softer-than-expected sales of its blockbuster diabetes and obesity drugs. The company blamed this partly on wholesaler destocking. Lilly reinforced its view that end demand for the drugs remains strong”.
Overall, LLY ranks first among the 10 best pharma stocks to buy for long term growth. While we acknowledge the potential of pharmaceutical companies, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LLY but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
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