Eli Lilly: BofA says buy the dip after shares slide on Q4 miss

Investing.com– Eli Lily’s shares fell sharply on Tuesday after the pharmaceutical company posted weaker-than-expected fourth quarter revenue, although BofA analysts said this presented a buying opportunity. 

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) shares slid 6.6% to $744.91, after it said it expects Q4 revenue at $13.5 billion- weaker than street expectations of $14.08 billion. The miss was driven largely by softer-than-expected sales of its Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs, which was somewhat expected by investors.

BofA said the share losses offered a “particularly good buying opportunity,” stating that LLY still remained one of two major companies that should continue to dominate a large market- weight loss drugs. 

LLY forecast 2025 sales between $58 billion and $61 billion- the midpoint of which is slightly above market estimates of $58.52 billion. 

BofA maintained LLY at Buy and a price target of $997.0, but said it was reviewing its estimates on the stock. 

BofA noted that the Q4 revenue miss was “still a miss.” The brokerage also flagged recent questions about softer than initially anticipated demand, especially given that LLY ramped up supply of its Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs in recent quarters.

While optimism over weight loss drugs sparked strong gains in LLY through early-2024, sales of the two had also missed expectations in the October quarter, keeping LLY shares rangebound ever since. 

Still, LLY is seeking to expand its customer base for its flagship weight-loss drugs. The company plans to release Mounjaro in China, India, Brazil, and Mexico in 2025.

The company, along with Copenhagen-listed Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)- are the only two major makers of weight-loss drugs, which is a category that shot up in popularity over the past year, especially with the launch of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic.