New York, July 4, 2026, 17:01 EDT
- U.S. markets were closed Friday for Independence Day and will open again Monday, July 6.
- Eli Lilly and Company NYSE:LLY gained 1.86% to close at $1,213.91 on Thursday, July 2, but lagged behind some other big healthcare names.
- Lilly is XLV’s biggest position, but Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie delivered a larger boost to the ETF’s last trading-day gain on a weight-times-return basis.
- This week, attention shifts back to Lilly’s $50 Medicare obesity-drug access offer and the timing of early generic tirzepatide applications.
Eli Lilly and Company NYSE:LLY heads into the holiday-shortened week trading near its all-time highs. Last week, though, the more notable move wasn’t Lilly’s climb. Most of the buying in healthcare came from stocks outside of Lilly, even while it stayed the sector’s largest name.
The New York Stock Exchange will mark July 3, a Friday, for its 2026 Independence Day holiday. On trading days, its core hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. So Thursday’s session will be the last full day for U.S. equities before markets reopen Monday.
Lilly added 1.86% to finish at $1,213.91 on Thursday, breaking a two-day slump, according to MarketWatch. The stock closed less than 2% off its 52-week high of $1,238.00 hit on June 29. Johnson & Johnson NYSE:JNJ was up 3.57%, while AbbVie Inc. NYSE:ABBV climbed 3.99%.
| Instrument | Last cited price | Last cited move | Read-through |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli Lilly and Company NYSE:LLY | $1,213.91 | +1.86% | Near highs, but not the top move among big pharma today |
| State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLV) | $163.74 | +2.65% | Healthcare sector rally outpaced Lilly shares |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) | $744.78 | -0.11% | Healthcare pulled ahead of S&P 500 |
Investor takeaway: Eli Lilly is now so big in healthcare funds that a regular day for Lilly doesn’t mean it’s moving the whole sector. State Street had Lilly at 16.34% of XLV as of July 1, topping Johnson & Johnson’s 10.59% and AbbVie’s 7.69%. Pharma stocks were 37.57% of the ETF as of July 2.
Based on those weights and recent price moves, Lilly put about 0.28 percentage point on XLV’s return for the last session. Johnson & Johnson kicked in about 0.38 point, with AbbVie adding around 0.31 point. Altogether, the top 10 holdings made up roughly 1.65 points of XLV’s 2.65% gain. That shows the rise was broad across the fund, not only from Lilly.
| XLV holding | Fund weight | Last cited move | Approx. XLV contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson NYSE:JNJ | 10.59% | up 3.54% | added 0.38 pct point |
| AbbVie Inc. NYSE:ABBV | 7.69% | up 3.99% | added 0.31 pct point |
| Eli Lilly and Company NYSE:LLY | 16.34% | up 1.69% | added 0.28 pct point |
| Intuitive Surgical Inc. NASDAQ:ISRG | 2.47% | up 5.88% | added 0.15 pct point |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. NYSE:UNH | 6.71% | down 0.31% | cut 0.02 pct point |
The main story is still the GLP-1 franchise for Lilly. Mounjaro brought in $8.66 billion last quarter. Zepbound added $4.16 billion. That’s about 65% of total revenue for the quarter, which came in at $19.80 billion, according to the company.
Lilly’s access update last week could change things for Medicare Part D patients. The company said patients who qualify may pay $50 a month for Foundayo or Zepbound weight drugs under the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program. Coverage starts July 1 and goes through December 31, 2027. “Lilly estimates that approximately 20 million Medicare patients may meet clinical criteria for obesity medicines,” Ilya Yuffa, Eli Lilly executive vice president and head of Lilly USA and Global Customer Capabilities, said in a statement. Eli Lilly and Company
On the risk front, new data turned up this week. The FDA has agreed to review two generic tirzepatide GLP-1 filings from Sandoz Group AG (SWX:SDZ), according to a Reuters report Monday. Another Reuters story Tuesday said Hybio Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (SHE:300199) announced the FDA will also review two of its experimental generic tirzepatide applications. Both reports note Lilly’s U.S. tirzepatide patent runs until 2036.
Lilly pared back its stake in an older China cancer drug. Innovent Biologics Inc. HKG:1801 will take over sole commercialization for Verzenios in mainland China, but Lilly keeps control on making, supplying and developing the drug. “This deal looks like a late-lifecycle management from Lilly’s angle, where Innovent can possibly help through its strong commercial execution locally,” Jefferies analyst Cui Cui told Reuters. Reuters
Lilly at $1,200 gets attention this week, but the real question is if buyers want the crowded names. With 16% of XLV wrapped up in Lilly, the stock can swing the ETF. Still, last week, healthcare saw money go to other names as well. For Lilly, that works both ways: if the group catches a bid, it helps, but weight-loss drug prices, payer coverage, and generics are still Lilly’s problem.
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