Why Eli Lilly Stock Was a Winner Today
What happened
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) investors continued to be in a good mood about their stock on Friday. Following the estimates-beating first quarter reported by the big pharmaceutical company the previous morning, they traded the shares up by 1.4% on the final trading day of the week. That eclipsed the 0.8% gain of the S&P 500 index.
So what
That positive sentiment was bolstered by a bunch of price-target raises from analysts at several influential researchers.
Of these, arguably the most bullish was Wells Fargo prognosticator Mohit Bansal. He upped his target on Lilly to $440 per share, well higher than his previous $375. Bansal maintained his overweight (i.e., buy) recommendation on the pharamceutical sector mainstay as his did so.
Elsewhere in the banking business, UBS' Colin Bristow added $9 to his price target for a new level of $447 per share. He kept his buy recommendation intact.
Ditto for Terence Flynn at white-shoe investment bank Morgan Stanley, who still feels Lilly is a buy, albeit up to $478 instead of his preceding $445 target. Robyn Karnauskas of Truist Securities was also a raiser, cranking the price target to $430 (for an increase of $9 per share) and maintaining her buy recommendation.
Now what
Although Lilly's quarterly performance wasn't one for the record books -- after all, it suffered erosions in both revenue and profitability -- investors were cheered by a boost in revenue and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings guidance. Perhaps more significantly, on the clinical front the company reported very promising results from its high-potential, investigational obesity drug, tirzepatide.
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