Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company became the first healthcare company ever to cross the $1 trillion market capitalization mark, joining an elite group of U.S. corporations previously dominated by the tech sector. The milestone underscores Lilly’s transformation into a powerhouse of metabolic-health innovation particularly in weight-loss and diabetes treatments.
Lilly’s shares briefly touched the $1 trillion valuation during morning trading before settling back slightly. The leap came amid a more than 35 percent rally in the company’s stock this year driven largely by the booming weight-loss market.
Central to that growth is Lilly’s metabolic-health portfolio. Revenues from drugs like Mounjaro for type-2 diabetes and Zepbound for obesity have surged past long-time leader Keytruda. In the latest quarter the company reported more than $10.09 billion in combined revenue from those two drugs, which accounted for over half of its total revenue of $17.6 billion.
Wall Street estimates the global weight-loss drug market will be worth around $150 billion by 2030 with Lilly and its rival Novo Nordisk controlling the lion’s share. Lilly’s upcoming oral obesity drug Orforglipron is expected to further fuel growth when approved next year.
Lilly’s rise to the trillion-dollar club is not just about the drugs themselves. The company has announced major investments in manufacturing capacity including a near $6.5 billion plant in Texas, to ensure it can meet surging global demand. It also sealed strategic pricing deals with the U.S. federal government that aim to expand access for tens of millions of patients, even if they modestly compress near-term margins.
Analysts note that Lilly now trades at nearly 50 times its projected earnings over the next 12 months, reflecting investor faith in its “metabolic health franchise” and its ability to outpace rivals such as Novo Nordisk A/S, which has struggled with supply-chain challenges and slower launch momentum.
In September, Eli Lilly revealed plans for a major expansion in Houston. The company’s CEO and Chairman, David Ricks, joined Texas Governor Greg Abbott to officially announce that Lilly will invest $6.5 billion to build a new manufacturing facility in the Generation Park development.
As Lilly and Novo Nordisk vie for dominance in the obesity-treatment market, the next few years will be pivotal. Approval of drugs like Orforglipron, scaling its manufacturing, and expanding global access will determine whether Lilly can maintain this momentum. For patients, the potential benefits are clear: more treatment options, more accessible drugs, and ultimately, the hope of better outcomes and lower long-term costs.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)
