Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) are both in the lead in the weight loss drug market, with LLY being the current number one. Both companies have injectable and oral drugs.
The companies are moving in sharply contrasting financial directions. Their market capitalization is also widely divergent:
LLY \~ €1.08 trillion (!) vs. NVO \~€199 billion. The projected sales for NVO look less good than for LLY. However, the P/E ratio's of both companies also widely differ: NVO approx. 11.5 - 12.6x, way below its 5-year historical average. LLY trades at a premium at around 41x.
When looking at the revenues of both companies, both are steadily on the rise. LLY at an estimated 71B as of may 2026 and NVO 48B (atleast according to 'multiples.vc').
Though what should be noted is that LLY also has a more diverse portfolio, which may be a significant dealbreaker for the future. Though, the market of medicine is highly affected by the success of clinical trials, which are incredibly expensive and risky: it is a high-risk high-reward setting.
The financial position of NVO is good: despite the stock drop, it generates billions in free cash flow and looks financially strong (though I find it difficult to pin a number, different sites show different results).
Their weightloss products are rather similar:
LLY has zepbound and Mounjaro, while NVO has Wegovy and Ozempic. Both are GLP1-targetting, through different mechanisms. Similarly, orally LLY has Foundayo and NVO has an oral Wegovy variant. The NVO variant has one downside: it needs to be taken on an empty stomach (though I am not sure how much of a downside that is, considering you can do this in the morning).
The side effects:
Both injectables show similar side effects, no hard winner there in my opinion. For the oral pills, NVO's pills show slightly better results (atleast according to Reuters, feb 2026). Where stomach issues and gastrointestinal distress were reportedly higher for LLY's pills. Thereby, LLY's pill showed an increase in pulse rate. Products from both companies also carry the same rare side effects (pancreatitis, gallbladder disease and gastroparesis, risk of thyroid cancer incase of family history) (according to drugs.com)
So, from this overview NVO seems like a good buy right now? At least on the short term. Long term LLY looks stronger at the moment, but of course this strongly depends on both companies being able to reduce side-effects and/or their success to expand to different markets. Curious to hear if I am missing something.
tl;dr: in my opinion, NVO looks like a cheap stock right now despite not being the market leader, side-effects from products are similar, financial position from NVO looks good.
*Current position: neither, but thinking of buying NVO due to its current price.*
*Disclaimer: AI was only used to look up data: I double checked it through browsing myself, it wasn't used to write the post.*