Eli Lilly‘s (NYSE: LLY) big problem is its success in the GLP-1 drug space. Its Mounjaro (for diabetes) and Zepbound (for weight loss) drugs grew sales by 99% and 175%, respectively, in 2025.
That’s impressive, but Wall Street is perhaps a bit too excited about the stock. Here’s why you might want to forget about Eli Lilly and buy GLP-1 laggards Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) instead.
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It’s hard to complain about a pharmaceutical company that has approved drugs in its portfolio that are growing as quickly as those from Eli Lilly. However, there are a few issues to consider. For starters, those levels of sales growth probably aren’t sustainable over the long term. Also, Mounjaro and Zepbound basically accounted for nearly all of Lilly’s 45% sales growth in 2025.
The most worrying problem, however, is that these two GLP-1 weight loss drugs already account for 56% of the company’s top line. When patent protections on these drugs eventually end, there’s going to be a huge hole to fill. Meanwhile, Wall Street is extremely excited about the stock, bidding the shares up to the point where the dividend yield is a tiny 0.6% and the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is a lofty 44.
If you have a value bias or prefer stocks with higher yields, you’ll probably want to look at GLP-1 competitors Novo Nordisk and Pfizer. Novo Nordisk was the first to launch a GLP-1 drug, but lost the lead to Eli Lilly because Lilly’s drugs seem to be more effective right now. That said, Novo Nordisk was recently first to market with an oral GLP-1 medication, and it continues to invest in its related offerings.
Novo Nordisk recently announced the results of a GLP-1 drug trial that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. However, research and development isn’t a smooth process, and the company continues to move forward. What’s notable is that it has a very large diabetes business to support its ongoing efforts. That’s also an important foundation to support the stock’s current yield of 4.9%. The P/E is a very modest 10.
Pfizer involves a bit more risk. It had to abandon its internally generated GLP-1 drug. However, the company has a long and proven track record in the pharmaceutical industry. It quickly pivoted, buying a biotech with an attractive GLP-1 candidate. It’s also exploring opportunities in the migraine and oncology spaces.