Eli Lilly
LLY on NYSE. Eli Lilly sells medicines to people and healthcare providers worldwide. Market value $1.1tn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Some use the latest annual report instead, as marked. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
The company doesn't report operating profit, so we work it out from pre-tax profit and interest.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See cheaper Health care stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $1.69 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 42.1 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 23 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 93 of 100. Price score: 23 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$1,143.12 a share, 46% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $783.85 to $1,292.65.
Dividend: 0.5% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Payouts have jumped around in recent years, so this may not repeat.
Prices from Monday’s close (5 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
Spare cash swings from quarter to quarter here: $18.2 billion in the past 12 months, $9 billion in the year to December 2025.
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $28.3bn | $28.5bn | $34.1bn | $45.0bn | $65.2bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 22.9% | 25.0% | 20.6% | 29.9% | 40.9% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 1.88 | 1.52 | 2.34 | 2.36 | 1.60 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.95bn | 0.95bn | 0.95bn | 0.95bn | 0.94bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Watch
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt1.60× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 21.6% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $23 billion last quarter, up 48% on a year ago.
- Profit: $7.1 billion, up 25% on a year ago.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $18.2 billion, up from $4.9 billion.
- 1% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $46 billion more than cash, up from $36.5 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $11.4bn |
| December 2024 | $13.5bn |
| March 2025 | $12.7bn |
| June 2025 | $15.6bn |
| September 2025 | $17.6bn |
| December 2025 | $19.3bn |
| March 2026 | $19.8bn |
| June 2026 | $23.0bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $970m |
| December 2024 | $4.4bn |
| March 2025 | $2.8bn |
| June 2025 | $5.7bn |
| September 2025 | $5.6bn |
| December 2025 | $6.6bn |
| March 2026 | $7.4bn |
| June 2026 | $7.1bn |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 29 October 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 12 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 4 November 2026
Who owns it
17 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 17 last quarter. 4,619 funds in all.
- GMOJeremy Grantham
- Value
- $892m
- Share of fund
- 2.0%
- Mairs & PowerAndy Adams
- Value
- $386m
- Share of fund
- 3.5%
- First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners
- Value
- $87m
- Share of fund
- 0.2%
- Dodge & CoxDodge & Cox investment committee
- Value
- $49m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Bruce & Co.R. Jeffrey Bruce
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- 0.6%
- Torray Investment PartnersRobert Torray (founder)
- Value
- $477,373
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Matrix Asset AdvisorsDavid Katz
- Value
- $372,488
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $892m | 2.0% | |
| Polen CapitalDan Davidowitz | $800m | 6.9% | Cut |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $386m | 3.5% | |
| Jensen Investment ManagementEric Schoenstein | $184m | 4.5% | Cut |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $87m | 0.2% | |
| Glenview Capital ManagementLarry Robbins | $69m | 1.4% | New |
| Dodge & CoxDodge & Cox investment committee | $49m | <0.1% | |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $33m | 0.3% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $26m | <0.1% | Added |
| Horizon KineticsMurray Stahl | $5m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Bruce & Co.R. Jeffrey Bruce | $2m | 0.6% | |
| Scharf InvestmentsBrian Krawez | $1m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $1m | <0.1% | Added |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $718,459 | <0.1% | Added |
| Harris Associates (Oakmark)Bill Nygren | $516,954 | <0.1% | Cut |
| Torray Investment PartnersRobert Torray (founder) | $477,373 | <0.1% | |
| Matrix Asset AdvisorsDavid Katz | $372,488 | <0.1% |
Sold out this quarter
Largest holders overall
- Lilly Endowment$108.4bn
- BlackRock$81.0bn
- Vanguard Capital Management$64.2bn
- PNC Financial Services Group$61.6bn
- State Street$43.4bn
- FMR$34.1bnAdded
- Capital Research Global Investors$25.0bnCut
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$25.0bn
- Geode Capital Management$24.3bn
- Morgan Stanley$19.5bnAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- LILLY ENDOWMENT, INC.Passive investor9.6%−0.1 ptsSince 30 June 2026
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor6.5%Since 31 March 2026
- THE PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP, INC.Passive investor5.4%Since 31 December 2024
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
LILLY ENDOWMENT, INC. Passive investor | 9.6%−0.1 pts | 30 June 2026 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 6.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
THE PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP, INC. Passive investor | 5.4% | 31 December 2024 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 4 sold $20m, $20m of it under preset trading plans.
- Jonsson PatrikEVP & President, LLY Int'lSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 17 August 2026
- Shares
- 6,500
- Price
- $1175.10
- Value
- $8m
- Zakrowski Donald ASVP, Finance, & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 10 August 2026
- Shares
- 2,000
- Price
- $1185.01
- Value
- $2m
- Hakim AnatEVP, GC & SecretarySoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 7 August 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $1190.00
- Value
- $6m
- Yuffa IlyaEVP&Pres, LLY USA&Global CapabSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 10 June 2026
- Shares
- 2,500
- Price
- $1150.77
- Value
- $3m
- Zakrowski Donald ASVP, Finance, & CAOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 13 November 2025
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $1010.50
- Value
- $1m
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2026 | Jonsson Patrik EVP & President, LLY Int'l | Sold under a preset trading plan | 6,500 | $1175.10 | $8m |
| 10 August 2026 | Zakrowski Donald A SVP, Finance, & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,000 | $1185.01 | $2m |
| 7 August 2026 | Hakim Anat EVP, GC & Secretary | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $1190.00 | $6m |
| 10 June 2026 | Yuffa Ilya EVP&Pres, LLY USA&Global Capab | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,500 | $1150.77 | $3m |
| 13 November 2025 | Zakrowski Donald A SVP, Finance, & CAO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 1,000 | $1010.50 | $1m |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 12 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 5 Aug 2026 and 4 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 42.1× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.