Eli Lilly vs. Novo Nordisk: Better Obesity Drug Stock?

1 hour ago 1

Prosper Junior Bakiny, The Motley Fool

Tue, June 16, 2026 astatine 12:20 PM CDT 4 min read

Analysts task that the value nonaccomplishment marketplace volition turn rapidly successful the coming years. Investors looking to currency successful connected this whitethorn crook to the companies that pb this niche: Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). These pharmaceutical giants person moved successful other directions connected the marketplace implicit the past year: Eli Lilly has gained 40%, portion Novo Nordisk's shares person dropped 42%. But that doesn't archer america which is much apt to execute good implicit the mean term. Let's determine that by looking much profoundly into each company.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk logos.

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The marketplace person

Eli Lilly's value nonaccomplishment lineup includes Zepbound, which is presently the best-selling medicine successful this niche. The institution besides precocious received support for Foundayo. This oral GLP-1 therapy is helping it grow its addressable marketplace and pull patients who were hesitant to usage injectable drugs. Eli Lilly is posting outstanding gross and net growth, partially acknowledgment to its dominance successful chronic value management. In the archetypal quarter, the company's gross jumped 56% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to $19.8 billion. Its net per stock soared 170% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to $8.26.

In summation to its existent harvest of medicines, Eli Lilly has a heavy pipeline successful value management. One of the much promising candidates it is moving connected is called retatrutide, an investigational therapy that mimics the enactment of 3 gut hormones, which could pb to improved efficacy. Retatrutide has performed highly good successful objective studies truthful far. Meanwhile, beyond its weight-loss lineup and pipeline, Eli Lilly has important products and candidates successful different fields, including oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. So, Eli Lilly isn't conscionable a value nonaccomplishment stock.

Can Novo Nordisk support up?

Novo Nordisk was erstwhile the person successful the anti-obesity market. Now, the institution is playing catch-up. However, respective caller developments could assistance the Denmark-based drugmaker debar being near successful the particulate by its competitor. Novo Nordisk launched its oral GLP-1, Wegovy pill, successful January, months earlier Foundayo earned approval. Oral Wegovy has been a smashing occurrence truthful far, with much than 2 cardinal prescriptions arsenic of the extremity of the archetypal quarter. Meanwhile, the archetypal injectable Wegovy continues to station decent income growth, too.

Further, Novo Nordisk has earned support for a high-dose formulation of Wegovy that is adjacent much effective. This could assistance the institution vie with Zepbound. Novo Nordisk besides has charismatic pipeline candidates, including its ain triple agonist, UBT251. The company's amycretin, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and amylin hormones, is besides undergoing signifier 3 studies successful oral and subcutaneous formulations, portion the company's CagriSema is expected to gain support by year-end.

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