Prosper Junior Bakiny, The Motley Fool June 16, 2026 4 min read LLY NOVO-B.CO NVDA INTC Analysts project that the weight loss market will grow rapidly in the coming years. Investors looking to cash in on this may turn to the companies that lead this niche: Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). These pharmaceutical giants have moved in opposite directions on the market over the past year: Eli Lilly has gained 40%, while Novo Nordisk's shares have dropped 42%.
But that doesn't tell us which is more likely to perform well over the medium term. Let's decide that by looking more deeply into each company. . Will AI create the world's first trillionaire?
Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » The market leader Eli Lilly's weight loss lineup includes Zepbound, which is currently the best-selling medicine in this niche. The company also recently received approval for Foundayo.
This oral GLP-1 therapy is helping it expand its addressable market and attract patients who were hesitant to use injectable drugs. Eli Lilly is posting outstanding revenue and earnings growth, partly thanks to its dominance in chronic weight management. In the first quarter, the company's revenue jumped 56% year over year to $19.8 billion.
Its earnings per share soared 170% year over year to $8.26. In addition to its current crop of medicines, Eli Lilly has a deep pipeline in weight management. One of the more promising candidates it is working on is called retatrutide, an investigational therapy that mimics the action of three gut hormones, which could lead to improved efficacy.
Retatrutide has performed extremely well in clinical studies so far. Meanwhile, beyond its weight-loss lineup and pipeline, Eli Lilly has important products and candidates in other fields, including oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. So, Eli Lilly isn't just a weight loss stock.
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