This $1,200 Stock Could Be the Next Massive Stock Split Opportunity

By Chris MacDonald Published Jul 8, 8:42AM EDT

Quick Read

Mounjaro alone generated $8.7 billion in Q1 2026, up 125% year over year, driving LLY above $1,213 and into stock split territory.
LLY surged 14% in the 30 days after earnings, outpacing SPY's 6% and QQQ's 12% over the same window.
Board directors bought shares at progressively higher prices from $920 to $1,129, while management raised full-year revenue guidance to a range of $82 billion to $85 billion.
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This $1,200 Stock Could Be the Next Massive Stock Split Opportunity — © inray27 / Shutterstock.com

The Number

$8.662 billion. That is what Mounjaro alone generated for Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY | LLY Price Prediction) in the first quarter of 2026, a single product, a single quarter, up 125% year over year. The figure was disclosed in Lilly’s Q1 2026 earnings release on April 30, 2026, an actual reported figure.

This key growth driver is what I’d argue is the central investing thesis behind investors who have continued to buy LLY stock at more than $1,200 per share, positioning this stock for a potential stock split (at least in my view).

What It Means

Mounjaro is now doing roughly the annual revenue of a mid-cap pharma company every 90 days.

When investors add Zepbound at $4.160 billion in the same quarter (up 80%), and the incretin franchise pushed group revenue to $19.799 billion (55.55% higher than a year earlier), it’s clear to see that there’s no shortage of growth with this biotech giant. Impressively, the company’s volume climbed 65% year over year this past quarter, while realized prices fell 13%. That is a mix Eli Lilly can live with.

Overall, I think the company’s volume growth is its operating leverage, and by all measures, these numbers are surging. With operating income recently hitting $8.915 billion (up 64.84%), and net income landing at $7.396 billion, higher by 168.04%. Non-GAAP EPS of $8.55 beat consensus of $6.7921 by a 25.88% margin, the biggest surprise in the four-quarter streak of beats.

Market Reaction

Shares closed at $934.60 on the day of the Q1 earnings report, up 3.07% from the prior close of $851.21. The move has continued since, with LLY stock now trading right around $1,200 per share. That’s good for a gain of around 14% since its earnings report (outpacing the overall NASDAQ), and good for a gain of nearly 450% over the past five years alone.

In other words, forget semiconductor stocks, Eli Lilly is the high-growth large-cap stock many investors are watching perhaps more closely right now.

Bull Case

Every claim behind Lilly’s four-digit share price is measurable. The company’s management team recently raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $82.0 billion to $85.0 billion from the prior $80.0 billion to $83.0 billion, lifted non-GAAP EPS guidance to $35.50 to $37.00 from $33.50 to $35.00, and pushed performance margin guidance to 47.0% to 48.5%. These are guidance figures for the full year.

I think the important thing to note is that this is a biotech giant with a pipeline that’s broadening its base. CEO David A. Ricks framed the quarter this way: “2026 is off to a strong start, we delivered 56% revenue growth in the first quarter and raised our full-year revenue guidance by $2 billion. A key milestone was the U.S. FDA approval of Foundayo, the only approved GLP-1 pill that can be taken any time of day, without food and water restrictions.”

Beyond incretins, key products in immunology, oncology and neuroscience grew 160% year over year, with Ebglyss up 141%, Omvoh up 115%, and Jaypirca up 79%. Four acquisitions were announced in the quarter (Orna Therapeutics, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, Kelonia Therapeutics, and Ajax Therapeutics), extending the pipeline into cell therapies, sleep-wake disorders, in vivo CAR-T, and myelofibrosis.

Importantly, insiders are also voting with their own wallets. Four of the company’s top directors bought shares on the same dates in April, May, and June 2026, at prices climbing from $919.90 to $988.09 to $1,129.35. That is board-level buying at progressively higher prices, month after month. The sell-side is aligned: an average analyst price target of $1,220.39, with 6 strong buys and 17 buys against 5 holds. On forward earnings of roughly 33x, this is priced as a growth compounder.

Bottom Line

A four-digit share price and a $1.06 trillion market cap make Lilly a natural candidate for a split conversation, and the fundamentals give management room to push for such a move.

For long-term holders, the number to remember is the one that drove the run: -Mounjaro at $8.662 billion in a single quarter, growing at triple digits. The next scheduled read on that trajectory is Lilly’s Investment Community Meeting on December 7, 2026. Until then, an ex-dividend date of August 14, 2026 is the next mile marker.

To sum it up, Eli Lilly’s share price growth is loud. The revenue growth supporting this move could be even louder.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

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About the Author Chris MacDonald →

Chris MacDonald is a 24/7 Wall St. contributor and long-time contributor to other notable finance publications, including The Motley Fool and InvestorPlace. With an MBA in Finance, and more than a decade of experience in venture capital and the corporate finance world, Chris brings a long-term perspective to his analysis of equities and alternative assets.

His love of investing and focus on finding quality undervalued stocks is complemented by recent research into alternative assets as well. He takes a long-term approach to analyzing companies and cryptos, with a focus on directing the reader to the most sustainable and important catalysts for each respective potential investment.