Latest news with #AsadHaider
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Goldman Sachs Reduced the PT on Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), Kept a Buy Rating
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is one of the Best Stocks to Invest in for High Returns. On July 30, Goldman Sachs analyst Asad Haider maintained a Buy rating on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) while reducing the price target from $99 to $94. The analyst noted that despite recent complexities in the company's financial update released on July 29, the bottom line surpassed expectations. Moreover, the Gardasil vaccine franchise in the United States and China has been a concern, however, the company's new product Winrevair is showing strong growth potential. Management is optimistic about expanding its label and anticipates supportive data from the HYPERION trial later this year, which boosts confidence in future growth. A close-up of a person's hand holding a bottle of pharmaceuticals. Haider also highlighted the company's $3 billion optimization plan as another positive. Through this initiative the company aims to shift resources from slower-growth areas to new product launches and research and development. The analyst believes that while this might increase costs temporarily however, it supports long term expansion. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a global healthcare company that develops and sells prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. While we acknowledge the potential of MRK as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
CNBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Eli Lilly earnings are coming Thursday. Here's what top analysts expect
Many on Wall Street expect that Novo Nordisk 's loss has been Eli Lilly 's gain, and this will be good news for the Zepbound maker's second-quarter results. Novo Nordisk's stock has cratered about 47% since the start of the year, as doubts emerged about the outlook for its GLP-1 drugs, Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity. The company has said its business has been hurt by competition from compounding pharmacies, which are making knock-off versions of its semaglutide, the active ingredient in both brands. This prompted Novo to cut its annual forecast and oust its CEO. Lilly's business appears to be holding up much better, according to analysts. They anticipate the proof will be in the quarterly results and outlook. What's more, several analysts expect other catalysts, including next-generation drugs, to help propel Lilly shares higher. 'Potential materiality' So far this year, Lilly's stock has logged a roughly 3% decline, underperforming the market. However, catalysts could come as soon as Thursday, analysts say. "We note that LLY's upcoming 2Q call is scheduled for 8:30am ET on Aug 7th, as opposed the company's standard 10am ET time slot for earnings calls after the market opens, suggesting potential materiality via topline trial results alongside earnings," Goldman Sachs analyst Asad Haider wrote in a July 28 research note. He said the report is "the most highly anticipated near-term event" across his pharmaceutical coverage. In addition to the financial outlook, investors are eager to hear more about orforglipron , the company's experimental GLP-1 pill. In June, at the American Diabetes Association conference, Lilly revealed the drug helped patients with type 2 diabetes in a late-stage trial lose weight without serious side effects . The readout of the phase 3 data for patients with obesity should be released soon. Wegovy's 'favored status' Analysts are also eager to hear management's thoughts on CVS Health 's policy of giving favored status to Wegovy over Lilly's Zepbound. The policy went into effect in July and means CVS Health's pharmacy benefit manager Caremark will prioritize Wegovy on its list of covered drugs. It has the potential to be a headwind for Lilly. However, patients may seek exemptions and remain on the weight loss drug or pay out of pocket on their own or via Lilly Direct, the company's direct-to-consumer website. Also, there is the possibility Lilly will strike a deal and get back on CVS Caremark's list of covered medications, analysts said. According to Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen, the first few weeks of the switch showed that patients changing from Zepbound to Wegovy was eclipsed by the number of patients starting the drug with a new prescription. On average, analysts surveyed by LSEG expect Lilly will earn $5.57 per share in the second quarter on revenue of $14.71 billion. If Lilly hits that revenue estimate, it will have achieved 30% growth year over year. Here's what else they're saying ahead of the report. LLY YTD mountain Eli Lilly shares year to date. Citigroup: Buy rating, $1,190 price target Citi analyst Geoff Meacham said Lilly remains one of its favorite stocks, and he placed a 90-day catalyst watch on it on July 30. His $1,190 price target implies 55% upside from Tuesday's close. "GLP-1 script data from IQVIA give us continued confidence in achievability of Lilly's 2025 revenue guidance ($58B-$61B). Notably, Zepbound scripts remain robust (+45% q/q) and overall share increased to 65.5%, representing a gain of ~600bps in market share. We think this is particularly noteworthy given vials from LillyDirect now represent ~20% of TRx [total prescriptions] and highlight increasing potential for a consumer angle in GLP-1 sales … driving uptake going forward (2Q25e $3.1B; +$99M vs. BBG cons). [Type 2 diabetes drug] Mounjaro scripts rose 16.3% q/q and now captures 42.2% share (2Q25e $4.5B; +$18M vs. cons); though slower growth than Zepbound, this is expected given the more entrenched nature of the type 2 diabetes market. … Top of mind for investors will be orforglipron's phase 3 ATTAIN readouts for obesity (Jul/Aug). Weight loss of 12-15% is the efficacy bar and continuation of a squeaky-clean safety profile that we saw at ADA for ACHIEVE … will be paramount." Morgan Stanley: Overweight, $1,135 In early July, Morgan Stanley analyst Terence Flynn tweaked his price target, increasing it to $1,135 from $1,133. The target suggests 48% upside. "In our view the magnitude of potential Mounjaro+Zepbound 2Q beat will dictate how LLY handles 2025 revenue guidance of $58-$61bn (MS $62.3bn vs. Cons $59.8bn), but we expect a raise of the low end at a minimum. LLY could also release Orfor Ph3 obesity and/or SURPASS-CVOT data in conjunction with earnings. … Interim Ph3 data for LLY's Kisunla in preclinical Alzheimer's (potentially later this year) could be a de-risking event for treating earlier in the disease course and expand the opportunity for the category, as well as provide lateral read-through to BIIB/Eisai's Leqembi (where Ph3 is also ongoing)" Bernstein: Outperform, $1,100 Bernstein, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan all have a $1,100 price target for Lilly's stock, which suggests it could rise nearly 44% from Tuesday's close. "We again see the potential for a meet or beat … , driven by Mounjaro & Zepbound performance. Given most of the street follow scripts closely in the US, the upside here arises from additional unexpected pricing (rebate adjustments), underreporting in IQVIA (a possibility), and ex-US performance (due to lower visibility). … Despite the potential for a top-line beat (we see potential for modest 1.2% beat above consensus at 14.6B), we don't anticipate LLY will be rushing to increase guidance, given last years back half challenges and the uncertainty for Q3 that remains on CVS caremark (although initial signs look strong)." Wells Fargo: Overweight, $1,100 "NVO lowering their guidance on Ozempic and Wegovy headwinds could be limited to NVO itself, as they cite continued compounding, competition, and slower market expansion. We believe LLY guidance can be raised on strong underlying trends. … Therefore, we would be buyers of LLY on the weakness since we expect a strong 2Q and a catalyst-rich 2H'25." JPMorgan: Overweight, $1,100 "Overall, we are expecting a solid 2Q for LLY with upside to Mounjaro/Zepbound (based on strong TRx growth trends), and we estimate total sales in the qtr of $14.8bn (+$370mm vs cons). On the EPS line, we are slightly below consensus ($5.49, -$0.06) as we expect a continued opex ramp to support a growing late stage pipeline and [direct-to consumer] initiatives. Looking forward, we expect some moderation in Zepbound growth as the CVS formulary change takes effect on July 1 but expect the product to still grow TRx in 3Q and accelerate in 4Q. And for the year, our estimates are near the high end of the company's 2025 guidance on both topline ($60.8bn sales, +$1.3bn vs cons) and the bottomline ($22.09 EPS, +$0.07 vs cons) and we would not be surprised to see LLY raise guidance at some point in 2025 (although the company may take a more conservative approach on the timing/magnitude of the increases given 2024 guidance dynamics)." Goldman Sachs: Buy, $883 Haider's $883 price target is about 15% above where Lilly shares closed on Tuesday. " … we expect another revenue beat, driven by an [foreign exchange] tailwind and strong TRx growth for Zepbound/Mounjaro where our and consensus estimates have tracked higher into the print. ... Into the 2Q earnings call, we also note significant investor discussion on the magnitude of potential upward pressure on the company's FY25 revenue guidance where we expect management could tighten the range of $58-$61bn for the year by bumping up the low-end (based on 1H trends, GS/consensus estimates are $60bn/$60.6bn for 2025). These trends are now well-understood with investor focus higher on trying to triangulate the impact to 3Q25 sales for Zepbound/Mounjaro from the CVS formulary change in favor of Novo that took effect on July 1st."
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Goldman Sachs Maintains a Hold on Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) is one of the top low volatility healthcare stocks to buy now. On July 24, Goldman Sachs analyst Asad Haider maintained a Hold rating on Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) with a $56.00 price target, basing the rating on the company's current market position. A pharmacy shelves stocked with pharmaceutical drugs awaiting distribution. Haider stated that Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) is anticipated to release mixed results for the upcoming quarter. While foreign exchange rates may have some positive impact on the earnings, potential negative effects from recent deals not fully accounted for in current earnings projections, and challenges at the product level are cause for concern. The analyst further said that Bristol-Myers Squibb Company's (NYSE:BMY) stock has remained stable within a narrow range despite it trading at a lower multiple compared to its peers and prior strong quarterly results. He reasoned that this stability is partially because of investors anticipating significant clinical trial outcomes, especially the Phase-3 ADEPT-2 trial for Cobenfy in Alzheimer's psychosis. The Hold rating thus suggests the need for clarity regarding these clinical developments as they may prove critical for future stock movement. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and delivers advanced medicines for serious diseases. Its medicines fall into various therapeutic classes, including hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, and neuroscience. While we acknowledge the potential of BMY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
07-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Eli Lilly's 3-step strategy to dominate the $95 billion obesity market
In sports, the best athletes compete against themselves. In the world of weight loss drugs, Eli Lilly is quickly becoming that all-star player that bests the competition every time. "Lilly is the king. They're the king of the mountain," Deutsche Bank's James Shin, director of biopharma equity research, told Business Insider. Investors are increasingly buzzing about the world's most valuable healthcare company, the one that they say has left its rivals in the dust. Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the company that developed Ozempic, initially seemed unbeatable in the new market for injectable diabetes and weight loss medications. But ever since 2022, when Eli Lilly's tirzepatide was first approved for use in the US, Lilly's been steadily gaining ground. Now, the company is developing a menu of other obesity drugs that could cater to anyone. There's a pill for weight loss instead of an injection. There are drugs that tap into new appetite-regulating hormones; an antibody injection to protect muscles while burning up excess fat. "Investors are starting to talk about Lilly on their own cue, rather than in the context of Novo," Asad Haider, Goldman Sachs's lead analyst for US pharmaceuticals, told BI. "They are at the forefront of almost every existing as well as emerging mechanism across anti-obesity, and it's going to be really hard, in our view, to leapfrog them." So, we caught up with Eli Lilly Executive Vice President Ken Custer, the man overseeing it all. Custer is the new president of Lilly's cardiometabolic health division, and in a recent one-on-one with BI, he shared the strategy behind the company's success so far and how they plan to maintain their big lead in the long run. Eli Lilly is set to dominate the market by 2030 Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, the drug currently leading the charge, is the strongest weight loss drug available so far. While Novo's Wegovy supercharges one of our hunger hormones (GLP-1), Lilly's Mounjaro has two (GLP-1 and GIP), making it a more powerful weekly shot to control appetite and blood sugar. One recent head-to-head study showed patients who spent a year on tirzepatide lost, on average, about 15% of their body weight, while those on semaglutide (the drug in Ozempic) lost just 8%. By 2030, Goldman is forecasting, conservatively, that Lilly will capture nearly 50% of the $95 billion anti-obesity medicine market. That forecast includes the injectable drugs we have now, like Mounjaro and Ozempic (for diabetes) plus Wegovy and Zepbound (for obesity) but may also extend to new drugs in the pipeline, both at Eli Lilly and coming from other drugmakers with smaller portfolios. But right now, Lilly seems to be ahead of the competition in just about every category. In June, at the American Diabetes Association's big annual research conference (ADA), Lilly's updates from ongoing trials were "incrementally better" than investors had expected, Haider said. "Then on the other side of that, a lot of their late-stage competition — specifically Novo Nordisk, but also Amgen — the updates that you got from them at ADA had a little bit more hair on them, and were frankly met with more disappointment." 1. Speed: 'This ratchet mindset' drives Lilly to develop drugs faster and faster Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks shared some of the secrets behind the big speed up that's shifted the company from an 11-year average time to market (when he first became CEO in 2017) to a six-year average now. "We really track things very carefully on speed," Ricks said in an interview last October on the "All-In" podcast. "The big idea is like this ratchet mindset that every time we beat a timeline, that becomes the new norm. We just re-benchmark internally." Case in point: It took about two decades to get Trulicity, Eli Lilly's first GLP-1 drug, on the market. Tirzepatide? About eight years — "blistering speed," Custer said. 2. Convenience: a cheap(er) pill to rival Ozempic Eli Lilly is in the late stages of developing the first Ozempic-like pill, designed to be just as strong as Novo's injectable drug. The drug, orforglipron, could be available as early as 2026. There are only about 8 million people currently on Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound in the US, which speaks to both the high cost of the injectable drugs and the supply bottlenecks. "The injectable GLP-1s are wonderful medicines, but manufacturing those medicines is hard," Custer said. "The factories that you have to use to do the sterile filling of the vials, the syringes, the devices, the cartridges are extraordinarily hard to build and operate." Custer believes a daily pill could completely change the game — opening up this new class of hormone-mimicking weight loss and diabetes drugs called incretins to hundreds of millions more people across the globe. "I think we're at a defining moment in our company's history," Custer said. He added that he sees this as "a generational opportunity that is probably close to what was seen with the early days of vaccines and antibiotics." Eli Lilly is already manufacturing hundreds of thousands of orforglipron pills, just to make sure it will be able to meet the demand if the drug is approved for use in the US next year. That's a somewhat risky move, considering that the company's final Phase 3 clinical trials that the US Food and Drug administration requires to evaluate the drug aren't even done yet. If approved, orforglipron should also (thankfully) have a more pronounceable brand name. Expect the cost of the pill to rival a "fancy gym membership," Shin said, meaning maybe around $300 for one month — a quarter of the cost of some injectable weight-loss drugs. Other companies' attempts to develop a new weight loss pill have been lackluster. Pfizer ditched its obesity pill candidate earlier this year, while Novo Nordisk's pill version of semaglutide, called Rybelsus, is not nearly as effective as Ozempic: Most patients on the pill lose less than 5% of their body weight, while people using the weekly shot can often achieve 10-15% weight loss, or more. 3. Creating a laundry list of new options to get ahead The north star of Eli Lilly's strategy now is variety — developing a broader range of options for consumers than any of their competitors. "If you have a billion people around the world or more living with overweight or obesity, they're not all going to be helped by one medicine," Custer said. "We see this segmenting it into several logical categories." The shift is already underway to find new weight loss options that will harness different hunger hormones (like amylin), use new routes of administration (pills or IVs instead of just injection pens), and have different dosing schedules (daily, weekly, or monthly). "They're trying to address every type of patient," Shin said. Here's the menu, beyond orforglipron: Bimagrumab: Looking to protect muscle while you lose fat? This is an Eli Lilly drug which may become available after orforglipron, if the mid-stage trials go well in the next couple of years. In the most recent trial results, the company shared on bimagrumab at ADA, patients on the drug achieved 100% fat loss, essentially preserving all their muscles. This idea of making sure patients lose the right kind of weight — not compromising their strength just to slim down — is the holy grail in incretin drug development right now, generating tons of buzz and investment. Retatrutide: If it's more powerful drugs you're after, then there's the "king kong" triple agonist that the company has been working on. It won't likely be ready to approve until late 2026, at the very earliest, but in clinical trials, it has shown weight loss on par with bariatric surgery, and some patients have lost more than a third of their total body weight, requiring entirely new wardrobes. Eloralintide: Finally, there's Lilly's investigational drug that mimics amylin, another metabolism-regulating hormone. It's still early days for eloralintide and for amylin medications in general. So it's possible that competitors like Novo Nordisk or Amgen could develop a compelling amylin drug before Eli Lilly does. "What's exciting is we feel like we're leading in most, if not all of those categories, but we'll come up with new categories," Custer said. "It is really about tailoring. I think bimagrumab and eloralintide and retatrutide and orforglipron are really the first part of that story, but of course, we have other ideas we're working on as well." Investors want in on that action. Both Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank sent BI disclosure statements for this story, because they each have a financial relationship with Eli Lilly (I challenge you, dear reader, to find a major investment bank that does not). In the long run, Eli Lilly is thinking ahead to a day when this class of medications could even treat conditions beyond metabolism and heart health, including dementia, inflammation, substance abuse, and pain. (Scientists are starting to study whether incretin drugs might treat migraines, for example). "It may be even in the future, when you're checking out at Kroger, in addition to the 'get your annual flu vaccine,' you see a sign that says 'get your annual metabolic shot,'" Custer said.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Goldman Sachs Rates Johnson & Johnson a Buy, Citing Pipeline Strength and Policy Tailwinds
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) ranks among the best set-it-and-forget-it stocks to buy. Asad Haider, a Goldman Sachs analyst, remained optimistic about Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares, rating it as a Buy on June 5. The analyst noted several factors that lead to the update. Pixabay/Public Domain Similar to its industry peers, the company demonstrates a proactive approach to navigating regulatory environments by participating in policy discussions with the administration. This could result in positive outcomes in areas such as 340B reform and PBM. Johnson & Johnson's innovation skills are further demonstrated by the company's pharmaceutical pipeline achievements, including the encouraging Carvykti data and the expected approval of TAR-200. The company's strategic move from Stelara to Tremfya and its investments in commercial fulfillment further highlight its commitment to preserving a dominant market position. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is a notable name in the healthcare industry, which includes sub-sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and consumer health products. The company is known for creating medications to treat a variety of conditions and diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. While we acknowledge the potential of JNJ as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. Read More: and Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
