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Eli Lilly valuation exercise: market cap, EV and multiples vs competitors

Pharmaceuticals. We rebuild its market value from the price, split it into its parts, and compare its multiples with those of its largest competitors.

Verified figures, not advice. Every number on this page comes from the company's own filings or from exchange prices, and the source is linked. Every calculation is shown, so you can repeat it. What we do not do is tell you what a share should be worth or whether to buy it: that depends on your goals and on forecasts, and no multiple can settle it. This is a snapshot: prices of 12 Oct 2026, company results up to mid 2026. Found a mistake? Tell us and we correct it.

Step 1. Market capitalisation

StepNumberWhere it comes from
Share price (nominal value)
$1182.62
Close of 12 Oct 2026
Shares outstanding
0.94 bn
Latest report or filing, as of 2026-08-03
Market capitalisation
$1.11tn
Price x shares

Market capitalisation is the value the stock market puts on all the shares together. It is the nominal share price multiplied by the number of shares.

Step 2. How the value is composed

Building blockAmountMeaning
Market capitalisation
$1.11tn
What the market asks for all the shares
+ Debt
$54.9bn
Borrowings, leases for premises excluded
- Cash
$8.9bn
Cash and equivalents
- Short-term investments
$0.0bn
Marketable securities due within a year
+ Minority interests
$0.0bn
Part of subsidiaries owned by others
Enterprise value (EV)
$1.16tn
The price of the whole business, as a buyer would see it

Of the $1.11tn market value, accounting book equity is $33.9bn. The remaining $1.08tn is what investors pay above the books: brands, software, customer relationships and expected growth that the balance sheet does not record. Price to book is 32.9x.

Step 3. Fundamentals, last twelve months

Last twelve monthsAmountMargin or note
Revenue
$79.7bn
Up to 2026-06-30
Operating income
$33.6bn
42% of revenue
EBITDA
$35.7bn
45% of revenue
Net income (GAAP)
$26.7bn
34% of revenue
Free cash flow
$18.2bn
Operating cash flow minus capital spending

Step 4. Multiples against the largest competitors

MultipleEli LillyJNJMRKPFEABBVPeer meanPeer medianvs median
P/E (price / net income)
41.7x
39.5x
113.1x
37.3x
78.7x
67.2x
59.1x
-29%
EV / sales
14.6x
6.7x
6.1x
3.4x
8.7x
6.2x
6.4x
+128%
EV / EBITDA
32.4x
25.9x
31.0x
10.5x
22.7x
22.5x
24.3x
+33%
EV / operating income
34.5x
37.2x
63.6x
15.5x
33.3x
37.4x
35.2x
-2%
P / free cash flow
61.2x
28.6x
22.3x
14.7x
27.3x
23.2x
24.8x
+147%

Context: Eli Lilly earns an EBITDA margin of 45%. The peers earn 26%, 20%, 32%, 38% (median 29%). A company that keeps more of each dollar of sales often trades at a higher multiple.

The peers are large drug makers. Eli Lilly grows faster and has higher margins than most of them, so multiples are not like for like.

What the comparison shows

  • EV / EBITDA: 32.4x against a peer median of 24.3x (mean 22.5x). Difference to the median: +33%.
  • EV / sales: 14.6x against a peer median of 6.4x (mean 6.2x). Difference: +128%.
  • P/E: 41.7x against a peer median of 59.1x. Difference: -29%.

These are descriptions of today's prices, not forecasts. "n.m." means not meaningful, for example negative profit.

Where the comparison is distorted

  • The share count on the cover page includes about 50 million shares held by an employee benefit trust. Some trackers exclude them and show a market value near $1.05tn instead of $1.11tn. Net income is after $4.5bn of acquired research costs.
  • Merck net income is after $14.7bn of acquired research charges.
  • Pfizer net income is after $8.9bn of impairments.
  • AbbVie has negative book equity.

Sources

Prices of 12 Oct 2026 from exchange historical data. Share counts, debt, cash and results from each company's filings, read on 13 and 14 October 2026. Foreign companies are converted at one stated rate.

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
  • sec.gov (shares_outstanding, balance sheet, H1 flows)
  • sec.gov (FY2025 income statement, segment one-offs)
  • sec.gov (Q3 2026 / 9M 2026 income statement and special items)
  • data.sec.gov (XBRL cross-check)
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)
Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
  • sec.gov (shares_outstanding, balance sheet, H1 statements, other dedu)
  • sec.gov (FY2025 statements, impairments detail)
  • data.sec.gov (XBRL cross-check)
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)

Questions people ask

Does a higher multiple than competitors mean the share is overvalued?

No. It means investors pay more per dollar of sales or profit. The reason can be faster growth, higher margins or lower risk, or it can be excess optimism. A multiple gap is a question to investigate, not an answer.

Why use enterprise value and not only market cap?

Market cap prices the shares only. Enterprise value adds debt and subtracts cash, so it compares the whole business regardless of how it is financed.

Why show both the mean and the median of competitors?

The mean is pulled up by one extreme value. The median is the middle value and resists outliers. When they differ a lot, trust the median more.

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