Eli Lilly, the US pharma giant, has become the first drugmaker to hit $1tn valuation on November 22, 2025, hence entering the exclusive club, which is so far dominated by technology giants, highlighting its rise as a weight-loss powerhouse.
The over 35% rally in the stock of the company in 2025 has largely been driven by the explosive growth when it comes to the weight-loss drug market.
In the past couple of years, as the new and highly effective obesity treatments have gone on to hit the market, this category has indeed emerged as one of the most profitable segments when we talk of healthcare.
Tirzepatide from Lilly’s sales, which is marketed as Mounjaro when it comes to type 2 diabetes and also Zepbound for obesity, has also gone on to top Keytruda from Merck, being the best-selling drug in the world.
Novo Nordisk did have an early lead in this space; however, Mounjaro, as well as Zepbound, have gone past in popularity and have helped the company shadow its rival when it comes to prescriptions.
Apparently, Lilly pulled ahead in part due to the fact that Wegovy from Novo, launched in 2021, got hampered because of supply shortages, thereby giving Lilly the much-needed room in order to gain ground. The drugs from this company have also gone on to show quite strong clinical efficacy, and there is no doubt in the fact that Lilly has been pretty fast so as to scale up manufacturing and also expand its distribution.
As Eli Lilly becomes the first drugmaker to hit $1tn valuation, its shares briefly hit a historic high and were trading almost 1% higher at $1,051.
Lilly now goes on to trade at one of the richest valuations when it comes to big pharma, at around 50 times its projected earnings over the forthcoming 12 months, says the LSEG data, therefore reflecting the bets by investors that the demand when it comes to obesity drugs is for sure going to remain quite strong.
Apparently, the shares have also far outpaced the much broader U.S. equity market. Since Zepbound’s launch in late 2023, Lilly has gone on to gain over 75%, as compared with a 50% rise within the S&P 500 across the same period.
As per the latest reported quarter, Lilly went on to post a combined revenue of over $10.09 billion due to its obesity as well as diabetes portfolio, comprising over half of its total revenue of $17.6 billion.
According to an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, Evan Seigerman, the current valuation goes on to point toward the investor confidence when it comes to the longer-term durability of the metabolic health franchise of Lilly. It also goes on to suggest that the investors do prefer the company over Novo when one talks of the obesity arms race.
It was in October 2025 that Lilly went ahead and lifted its yearly revenue forecast by over $2 billion at the midpoint on the growing global demand as far as its obesity and diabetes drugs are concerned.
As per the Wall Street estimates, the weight-loss drug market is going to be worth $150 billion by the end of this decade, with both Lilly and Novo controlling the majority of the projected global sales.
Investors, apparently, are now focused on the oral obesity drug from Lilly named orforglipron, which is anticipated to get the approval by early 2026.
In a note that was circulated recently, the Citi analysts remarked that the latest generation of GLP-1 drugs have been a sales phenomenon already, and orforglipron is all set to benefit from the inroads that have been made due to its injectable predecessors.
It’s Time To Sustain The Momentum
The fact is that Lilly is all set to benefit due to a deal with the Trump administration and also its billions in investment that have been planned so as to boost U.S. production.
There are analysts who have said that the pricing deal with the White House may well weigh on the near-term revenue; however, it also prominently goes on to expand access, hence adding as many as 40 million new potential U.S. candidates as far as the obesity treatment is concerned.
As per James Shin, Deutsche Bank’s director of Biopharma Equity Research, Lilly is indeed starting to resemble the so-called Magnificent Seven again, referring to the technology heavyweights such as Nvidia as well as Microsoft, which have powered most of the returns in the market in 2025.
There was a point when investors viewed it as a part of that elite group; however, after a few disappointing headlines along with earnings, it did slip out of favor.
But now, it can possibly be supposed to be an alternative for investors, specifically given the recent concerns as well as weakness when it comes to some of the AI stocks, added Shin.
However, analysts along with investors are still watching if Lilly can actually sustain its present growth as prices of Mounjaro as well as Zepbound come under pressure and whether the scale-up plans that it has, in addition to the diversified pipeline and dealmaking, are going to offset a potential margin compression.
