Sometimes, the party gets a little too loud. Shares of Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) took a hit Tuesday after HSBC analysts decided to turn down the music, suggesting the weight-loss drug euphoria might have gotten ahead of itself.
Analyst Rajesh Kumar downgraded the U.S. drugmaker from Hold to Reduce—a sell-equivalent rating—and slashed the price target from $1,070 to $850. According to reports, that's now the lowest price target for the stock on Wall Street. The move comes after a bit of a rollercoaster from HSBC: they downgraded Lilly last April, upgraded it to Hold four months later, and have now swung back to a bearish stance, declaring the stock "priced to perfection" with an unbalanced risk-reward.
So, what's the problem? In short, HSBC thinks everyone is way too optimistic about how big the obesity drug market can actually get. Wall Street's consensus is looking at a market worth over $150 billion by 2032. HSBC's estimate? A much more conservative $80 to $120 billion for the same period.
A big part of that skepticism stems from the intensifying showdown with rival Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO). Kumar wrote that market share in this space will be "driven more by aggressive price cuts than by specific product features." In other words, get ready for a price war, not a feature war. That's not typically great for profit margins.
Skepticism Over Experimental Pipelines For Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly's valuation has tripled over the last four years, catapulting it to become the first trillion-dollar biopharma firm. But HSBC warns the road ahead is "fraught with execution risks."
Specifically, the analysts took aim at Wall Street's expectations for orforglipron, Lilly's experimental oral weight-loss medicine. The street is estimating $1.5 billion in sales for the drug in 2026. HSBC calls that unrealistic. The company has submitted the drug for approval in over 40 countries, with a potential U.S. decision for obesity treatment expected in the second quarter of 2026.
Beyond just one drug, the analysts raised broader concerns about whether patient compliance and the long-term use of these medications will live up to the current bullish expectations. It's one thing to prescribe a drug; it's another for patients to stick with it for years.
Historical Context Of HSBC Ratings
This isn't HSBC's first rodeo with a bearish call on Lilly. This marks the second time in under a year they've turned negative. After downgrading in April, upgrading in August, they're now back to arguing that the "bullish world view" embedded in the company's guidance is no longer sustainable.
Separately, Eli Lilly continues to work on issues around compounded versions of its drugs. The company recently said internal testing detected a previously unidentified impurity formed when certain substances interact in compounded weight-loss drugs with vitamin B12.
LLY Stock Price Activity: Reflecting the downgrade, Eli Lilly shares were down 5.38% at $935.93 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to market data.
