Eli Lilly stock LLY after hours on Dec. 12, 2025: Mounjaro pediatric EU nod, FDA orforglipron fast-track scrutiny, and what to watch next

Eli Lilly and Company shares ended Friday, Dec. 12, 2025 higher — and held roughly steady in after-hours trading — as investors weighed a fresh European regulatory boost for Mounjaro, new reporting on the FDA’s internal debate over speeding up a decision on Lilly’s oral obesity pill, and late-stage oncology data presented at a major medical meeting.

After the bell: LLY finished the regular session at $1,027.51 (+1.80%) and traded in a tight range in the first part of the after-hours session, hovering near $1,028–$1,029. ^[1]

Note on timing: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 is a weekend, so U.S. stock markets are closed. The next regular U.S. session is Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.

Eli Lilly stock price action after the bell on Dec. 12, 2025

LLY outperformed the broader market on Friday. While the S&P 500 fell and the Dow declined, Lilly extended its winning streak to three straight sessions. ^[2]

Key end-of-day numbers for Friday, Dec. 12:

Close: $1,027.51 (+1.80%) ^[3]
After-hours early read: about $1,028–$1,029 ^[4]
Day range: roughly $1,004 to $1,028.89 ^[5]
Volume: about 3.2 million shares, slightly below Lilly’s recent average cited by MarketWatch ^[6]
Distance from 52-week high: the stock closed about 7.6% below its $1,111.99 52-week high set on Nov. 26, 2025 ^[7]

What that means for traders: after a strong regular-session move, after-hours pricing suggested no big additional re-rating late Friday — the stock looked “digesting the news,” not breaking into a new momentum leg (at least early in the post-market window). ^[8]

The big LLY headline on Dec. 12: EU committee backs Mounjaro for ages 10 and up

The most market-moving headline tied directly to Lilly on Friday was Europe-focused:

Reuters reported that the European Medicines Agency’s committee recommended extending Mounjaro to children and adolescents age 10+ with type 2 diabetes. Treatment options for this group have been limited, which makes incremental approvals meaningful both clinically and commercially. ^[9]
The EMA’s own posting adds important details: the CHMP adopted a positive opinion on Dec. 11, 2025, recommending an extension of indication for Mounjaro so it can be used for type 2 diabetes in adults, adolescents, and children 10+ as an adjunct to diet and exercise — as monotherapy when metformin is inappropriate or in addition to other diabetes medicines. The EMA noted that final labeling updates follow a European Commission decision. ^[10]

Why investors care: Even though Lilly’s near-term financial narrative is still dominated by the adult obesity and diabetes opportunity, pediatric expansions can strengthen a franchise over time by widening the prescriber base, improving lifecycle durability, and reinforcing the “category leadership” story investors assign premium multiples to. ^[11]

FDA and orforglipron: why a “speedier verdict” story matters for Monday’s open

A second major headline Friday came from Washington — and it has a different flavor: regulatory process risk, not just clinical upside.

Reuters reported that FDA leadership pushed internally for an accelerated review timeline for orforglipron, Lilly’s experimental oral weight-loss pill. The story describes debate around shortening parts of the review process under the FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program — alongside internal concerns about safety, politics, and precedent. ^[12]

Key details from the Reuters report to understand before the next session:

The standard review timeline referenced a May 20, 2026 decision date, while Lilly sought a faster schedule. ^[13]
The article notes internal discussion of compressing the initial filing review window dramatically, although it also describes internal resistance and concern that speed should not compromise safety. ^[14]
Reuters also framed the competitive context: Lilly’s pill showed 12.4% weight loss in trials cited in the report, while Novo Nordisk’s pill produced 16.6% in the comparison Reuters referenced. ^[15]

How to read this as a stock catalyst:
This kind of headline can cut both ways in premarket trading.

Bull case reaction: any credible path to an earlier U.S. decision could be viewed as pulling forward a major growth driver in obesity, especially because an effective oral GLP-1 could expand the addressable market (more patients tolerate or prefer pills than injections). ^[16]
Bear case reaction: regulatory acceleration stories can also introduce “process premium” uncertainty — will the FDA face backlash, will scrutiny rise, does faster review increase headline risk if safety questions emerge, and could politics distort timelines? Reuters explicitly surfaced internal concerns, which markets sometimes price as volatility. ^[17]

Oncology catalyst: Lilly’s Inluriyo data lands at SABCS 2025

Lilly also put out a data-heavy update in oncology on Friday, tied to the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

In a Dec. 12 press release distributed via PR Newswire, Lilly highlighted updated Phase 3 EMBER-3 results for Inluriyo (imlunestrant), including:

In ESR1-mutated disease, imlunestrant monotherapy showed a 38% reduction in risk of progression or death (median PFS 5.5 vs 3.8 months), and a numerical overall survival improvement (with a noted statistical boundary caveat). ^[18]
In all patients, the imlunestrant + abemaciclib combination reduced the risk of progression or death by 41% vs imlunestrant alone, with median PFS 10.9 vs 5.5 months, and delayed time to chemotherapy 27.8 vs 15.5 months. ^[19]

Memorial Sloan Kettering’s clinical update adds additional trial context and patient counts, reinforcing the significance of the regimen and the follow-up timeline. ^[20]

Why it matters to the stock even with obesity in the spotlight:
Investors pay a premium for Lilly partly because it’s not a one-product story. Strong oncology readouts help support the “multiple growth pillars” narrative — which becomes especially important when the market worries about pricing pressure or rising competition in GLP-1 drugs. ^[21]

Credit and balance sheet signal: Moody’s revises outlook to positive

Another Dec. 12 development that can influence institutional sentiment: Moody’s affirmed Lilly’s Aa3 senior unsecured and issuer ratings and revised the outlook to positive from stable, according to an Investing.com report summarizing the rating agency’s action.

Moody’s rationale cited:

Lilly’s expanding leadership in incretin therapies, including Mounjaro and Zepbound,
pipeline assets including orforglipron and retatrutide,
and expectations for conservative financial policy and low leverage supported by strong earnings and free cash flow. ^[22]

For equity investors, this is not usually a “gap the stock” event — but it supports the broader “quality compounder” framing that can matter when markets turn risk-off. ^[23]

Analyst forecasts and price targets hitting the tape on Dec. 12

Friday also brought a wave of analyst commentary, much of it tied to Lilly’s next-gen obesity pipeline.

Two widely circulated notes summarized by Investing.com:

Truist reiterated Buy with a $1,182 price target following topline Phase 3 TRIUMPH-4 results for retatrutide, while flagging that toxicity considerations could limit use to certain patient groups. ^[24]
BMO Capital reiterated Outperform with a $1,200 price target, highlighting strong efficacy and noting a specific safety item analysts will monitor in future readouts. ^[25]

Meanwhile, Benzinga’s compiled analyst dashboard (updated with Dec. 12 pricing) showed:

Highest price target:$1,500
Lowest price target:$700
Consensus price target: about $1,021 (near where the stock closed Friday) ^[26]

How to interpret the spread:
When a mega-cap “story stock” trades near consensus target, the market is effectively saying: “We need new information to justify a materially different valuation.” For LLY, that “new information” tends to come from a short list: obesity pipeline milestones, regulatory timing for oral agents, manufacturing capacity updates, and net pricing/coverage signals. ^[27]

Competition check: Novo’s higher-dose Wegovy is another headline to watch

Even on days when Lilly has good news, GLP-1 and obesity stocks trade in a highly competitive tape.

Reuters also reported Friday that the EMA issued a positive opinion supporting a higher 7.2 mg dose of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (vs the currently approved 2.4 mg), citing stronger weight-loss outcomes in a trial and noting potential availability in early 2026 if approved by the European Commission. ^[28]

Why this matters for Lilly holders heading into next week:
Any sign that Novo can narrow or shift the efficacy story — especially if accompanied by tolerability or muscle-mass messaging — can influence relative multiples in the category, even if Lilly remains very well positioned. ^[29]

What to know before the next market open

Because Dec. 13 is Saturday, there is no U.S. “market open” that morning. But if you’re positioning ahead of the next tradable session (Monday, Dec. 15), here are the items most likely to drive LLY sentiment from Friday night through the weekend:

1) Follow-through on the Mounjaro pediatric decision path in Europe

The CHMP opinion is a meaningful step, but investors will watch how quickly it moves through the remaining EU process and what final labeling looks like. ^[30]

2) Any incremental reporting or political reaction around FDA review speed

Reuters framed this as an internal FDA process debate with safety implications. Any additional sourcing, pushback, or clarification can move “process risk” into or out of the stock quickly. ^[31]

3) SABCS read-through beyond the headline numbers

Large conferences often generate second-day commentary — physician takes, competitor comparisons, and “how practice changes” narratives. That can matter for how investors model oncology growth beyond the obesity franchise. ^[32]

4) Positioning vs GLP-1 competitors after Novo’s higher-dose Wegovy news

Obesity is a category where headline-to-headline comparisons can become a near-term trading factor. ^[33]

5) A simple but real technical reference point: the 52-week high

LLY finished Friday about 7.6% below its $1,111.99 52-week high. In momentum-driven large caps, “distance to highs” often influences flows when catalysts are supportive. ^[34]

Bottom line

Eli Lilly stock ended Friday with a clear positive close and a calm after-hours tape — a pattern consistent with investors liking the day’s regulatory and clinical headlines, but not repricing the entire long-term story in a single session. The most important near-term swing factor is likely to be how markets digest the FDA orforglipron review-speed reporting alongside continued EU regulatory momentum for Mounjaro and the broader GLP-1 competitive landscape.