Eli Lilly Stock Soars, Pulling iShares Pharma ETF Higher

Eli Lilly stock jumped 18% as sales of a diabetes drug beat expectations, boosting the prices of pharmaceutical industry ETFs including iShares’ IHE fund. 

Lilly shares, which had gained 50% this year before today, rose on the strength of sales of Mounjaro. That drug is widely expected to be approved for weight loss. Novo Nordisk, which also has a promising weight loss drug, jumped 18% today.  

The iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE) has a 22% stake in Lilly stock, worth $83.5 million, the largest percentage among all exchange-traded funds, according to etf.com data. The fund ETF has dropped 2.4% this year. The largest holder by number of shares is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), with 8.88 million shares. SPY dropped 1.1% today, in line with the decline in the S&P 500 index.  

Other pharma-focused funds jumped today. The Direxion Daily Pharmaceutical & Medical Bull 3X Shares (PILL) rose 5.2% at midday. The Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP), with a 6.3% Lilly allocation, added 1.2%, while the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH), which allocates 4.2% of its assets to Lilly, rose 1.8% 

Eli Lilly Stock Widely Held in ETFs 

About 66.3 million Eli Lilly & Co. shares are held in 332 U.S.-traded ETFs. On average, U.S. exchange-traded funds allocate 1.63% of LLY to their portfolios. 

The best-performing fund in the past 12 months with LLY as a holding is the Fidelity Growth Opportunities ETF (FGRO), with a return of 25.48%. 

Novo Nordisk and Lilly are top holdings in the VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH). That fund rose 2.1% today. Both companies’ weight loss drugs are being tested to find if they improve cardiovascular health. 

Contact Ron Day at [email protected] or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter at @RonDayETF