New York, Jan 9, 2026, 17:30 EST — After-hours
Eli Lilly and Co shares fell nearly 2% on Friday, closing at $1,063.56, after swinging between about $1,063 and $1,104 in the session. The stock was little changed after hours.
The pullback comes as the drugmaker’s stock cools off from a fresh 52-week high set on Thursday, with traders quick to lock in gains after a fast run. The broader market rose on the day, but Lilly logged a second straight decline and ended the session about 6% below that recent peak.
The latest company catalyst landed late Thursday, when Lilly said a Phase 3b trial — a late-stage study — showed its obesity drug Zepbound, used with its arthritis drug Taltz, improved psoriatic arthritis symptoms and drove weight loss better than Taltz alone. Lilly said 31.7% of patients on the combination hit a combined goal of at least a 50% drop in disease activity and at least 10% weight loss at 36 weeks, versus 0.8% on Taltz alone; executive Mark Genovese called it an “integrated treatment approach.” Reuters
A day earlier, Lilly agreed to buy autoimmune drug developer Ventyx Biosciences for $1.2 billion in cash, paying $14 a share, as it looks to add assets beyond its diabetes and weight-loss blockbusters. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Carter Gould called the price “borderline immaterial” for Lilly and said he liked the company taking “transformative” shots at small size. Reuters
On Friday, software maker Schrodinger said it will work with Lilly to offer Lilly’s TuneLab platform on Schrodinger’s LiveDesign drug-design software, giving biotech clients access to the AI tools. Lilly’s Aliza Apple said broader use of the models can bring “more diverse training data,” with the aim of moving compounds through discovery faster. Reuters
Investors are also weighing a tougher drug-pricing backdrop abroad, with large pharma bracing for more aggressive negotiations in Europe after U.S. price-cut agreements struck last year under pressure from President Donald Trump. ClearBridge analyst Marshall Gordon said, “You can’t force the Europeans” to suddenly spend more, and the issue is expected to come up at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco starting Jan. 12. Reuters
On the chart, traders are now watching whether Lilly can steady above the $1,060 area after failing to hold above $1,100 on Friday. The next test sits near the prior week’s highs, with $1,000 a round-number line that tends to draw attention when momentum fades.
But there are two-sided risks. The psoriatic arthritis data may not translate into a quick label change or a big shift in prescribing, and Ventyx’s pipeline is still in clinical testing where drug candidates can miss. Pricing friction — in the U.S. or Europe — remains the kind of headline that can hit sentiment fast in a stock priced for growth.
Next up, Lilly has scheduled its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call for Feb. 4, when investors will look for demand and supply signals around Zepbound and Mounjaro and any early detail on how the Ventyx assets fit into the 2026 plan.
