6. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 115
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is engaged in discovering, developing, and marketing human pharmaceuticals. The company’s revenue in Q4 2024 witnessed an increase of 45% to $13.53 billion due to the volume growth from Mounjaro and Zepbound. Non-incretin revenue increased 20% as compared to Q4 2023. Furthermore, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has made progress in its pipeline, including the approval of Zepbound in the US for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity and the approval of Omvoh in the US for moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease.
As per Roots Analysis, the global anti-obesity drugs market size is expected to grow from $12.8 billion in 2024 to $104.9 billion in 2035. For Q4 2024, US Zepbound revenue came in at $1.91 billion as compared with $175.8 million in Q4 2023. Zepbound was launched in the US for the treatment of adult patients with obesity or overweight with weight-related comorbidities in November 2023.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) expects 2025 revenue of between $58.0 billion – $61.0 billion. The midpoint demonstrates ~32% growth YoY, fueled by new Lilly medicines like Zepbound, Mounjaro, Jaypirca, Ebglyss, Omvoh and Kisunla, approvals of new indications for existing Lilly medicines, launches of Mounjaro in additional worldwide markets, among other factors. Given Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)’s market position and strong market growth expectations (as highlighted by Roots Analysis), the company remains well-placed for growth over the next decade. RiverPark Advisors, an investment advisory firm and sponsor of the RiverPark family of mutual funds, released its Q4 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY): LLY was a top detractor in the fourth quarter following a rare revenue miss in the company’s 3Q update. The greater than $1 billion miss in the tirzepatide complex (Mounjaro/Zepbound) was caused by a combination of factors, including wholesaler stocking patterns (2Q inventory build, 3Q sell through), refrigerated supply chain constraints, timing of the company’s direct-to-consumer efforts, and the pace of international market launches. We believe the diabetes/obesity/weight-loss market is enormous and that current GLP-1 drugs, though no longer supply constrained, are greatly in demand. We are confident that LLY’s recent sales shortfall was supply chain-related and that the company’s tirzepatide franchise growth will soon reaccelerate.
LLY discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets pharmaceutical products. The company manufactures and distributes products through facilities in the United States and seven other countries and sells into 110 countries. The company has a broad and deep portfolio of products including a focus on diabetes, oncology, immunology and neuroscience. More recently, LLY’s GLP-1 diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound, have delivered strong revenue growth, and investors are optimistic that the company’s recently approved Alzheimer drug, Kisunla, will add to that growth.
LLY has a stable portfolio of franchise products, which enables it to invest heavily in its product pipeline. We believe that this combination of franchise and growth products will drive high teens revenue growth and a four-fold increase in free cash flow in the next five years.”
