Eli Lilly Gains $40 Billion in Market Cap as Tech Selloff Drives Rotation Into Pharma

Eli Lilly shares climbed 3.59% on October 15, adding roughly $40 billion in market value and standing out as the single biggest gainer in a session that saw the broader U.S. market shed $1.06 trillion. A rotation out of technology stocks, where Nvidia alone shed $174 billion, pushed investors toward healthcare names, lifting Lilly, AbbVie, and Gilead Sciences to or near all-time highs. Lilly's stock was already trading above $1,160, prompting fresh speculation about a potential stock split.

On the clinical front, Lilly released new one-year data showing that its inflammatory bowel disease drug Omvoh, known generically as mirikizumab-mrkz, helped patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease achieve multiple simultaneous treatment goals. The readout reinforces Omvoh's commercial profile as Lilly looks to diversify revenue streams beyond its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes franchise, which currently accounts for more than 60% of total revenue and faces patent expirations in the 2030s.

Lilly also expanded its oncology pipeline through a new global clinical collaboration with Adlai Nortye and Merck. The trial will evaluate Adlai Nortye's AN4035 in combination with cetuximab, the anti-EGFR antibody that Lilly will supply to U.S. trial sites while Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, supplies Australia and China sites. Adlai Nortye shares rose about 3.4% in premarket trading on the announcement.

Separately, Scribe Therapeutics, which holds a strategic partnership with Lilly, is advancing STX-1150, an in-vivo gene therapy candidate targeting PCSK9 silencing for cholesterol reduction, with preclinical data showing 52-68% LDL-C reductions lasting at least two years in primates. Lilly's PEG ratio of 1.5 compares favorably to peers such as Johnson and Johnson at 3.1, according to Seeking Alpha analysis published the same day.