Eli Lilly Stock Soars on Trump Tariff Hopes and Pfizer Deal

Written by Leo MillerAfter tanking in early August, the world’s most valuable pharmaceutical stock has roared back with a vengeance. That firm is Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), the maker of the wildly popular weight loss and diabetes drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro. During the trading week ending Oct. 3, the stock surged by 16%, reaching its highest level since April.

This comes after Lilly shares plummeted by over 14% on Aug. 7, even though its Q2 release that day crushed expectations. However, the simultaneous release of disappointing clinical trial results for its oral GLP-1, orforglipron, led shares to plummet. MarketBeat pointed out at that time that this could be a fruitful buy-the-dip opportunity. Since that 14% fall, the stock is up more than 31% year-to-date. Notably, around half of this gain came recently, driven by an all-important development: Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) tariff deal. Below, we’ll break down exactly what drove the highly impressive run-up in Lilly shares and what’s next.

Trump, Pfizer, and Lilly: Why Tariff Resolutions Are Driving Shares Higher

On Sept. 25, President Trump announced that companies importing branded pharmaceuticals to the United States would face a 100% tariff. However, Trump would spare companies that invest in U.S. manufacturing facilities. Still, with limited details and most pharma firms already having manufacturing investments in the United States, it wasn’t clear who would actually be exempt. This uncertainty left shares of big pharma stocks relatively unchanged on Sept. 26.

Clarity then emerged on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, after Pfizer announced that it had reached a deal with the Trump administration. By lowering its drug prices and committing to further U.S. investments, the company would gain a three-year exemption from tariffs.

Eli Lilly shares got huge boosts on those days, rising 5% on Sept. 30 and 8% on Oct. 1. This was due to the realization that Lilly could also avoid tariffs through a similar arrangement. Additionally, financial media outlets reported that Lilly was the next company in line to strike a deal with Trump.

Notably, Lilly has been intelligently preparing for the threat of lofty pharma tariffs in 2025, as Trump has alluded to this possibility multiple times. In February, the company announced that it would increase its investment in U.S. manufacturing by $27 billion. Chief Executive Officer David Ricks also recently said Lilly would become a net exporter of injectable GLP-1s from the United States. Overall, these factors position Lilly to strike a tariff-avoiding deal, leading to the robust rise in shares.

 Lilly Can Protect Key Markets Despite Coming Concessions

Although Lilly looks poised to avoid highly burdensome tariffs, a potential deal with Trump will not come without costs. For example, as a term of Pfizer’s deal, the company says it will cut its U.S. drug prices by an average of 50%. Although this may get the tariff monkey off its back, it clearly translates into lower revenues. However, Pfizer only seems to be making new pricing concessions in direct-to-consumer (DTC) and Medicaid pharmaceutical spending.

These channels are two of the smallest in the United States. In 2023, DTC accounted for only 13% of drug sales, while Medicaid accounted for 11%. Meanwhile, Medicare and private health insurance accounted for a combined 71% of spending. So, if Lilly strikes a deal similar to Pfizer’s, it is likely to protect pricing on the vast majority of its sales.

Additionally, data from Real Chemistry indicates that Medicaid spent only around $200 million combined on Zepbound and Mounjaro in 2024. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the over $24 billion in sales these drugs combined for in the last 12 months. Thus, Medicaid concessions could have a nearly negligible impact on the sale of Lilly’s two blockbusters. Lilly also said in February that its DTC channel, Lilly Direct, accounted for a single-digit percentage of total Zepbound prescriptions. This further supports the point of Lilly protecting its key markets.

LLY’s Upswing Could Have Further Room to Run

Overall, it appears that a Pfizer-like deal would be a huge win for Eli Lilly. It would be more than worth mitigating the threat of onerous tariffs that have cast a dark cloud over the pharma industry for some time. The MarketBeat consensus price target for Lilly is approximately $933, indicating about 11% potential upside. With a potential Trump deal as a catalyst, and tariffs becoming a fading concern, there is a significant chance Lilly’s strong rally continues.

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3 Exceptional Stocks to Build Long-Term Wealth

Written by Chris MarkochWith many stocks looking overvalued, many investors may be tempted to sell. However, there are several factors to consider before taking profits:

• Time horizon – when an investor will need the money
• The availability of better alternative investments
• Tax ramifications from taking short-term or long-term gains

This article only focuses on the first factor. For long-term investors, time is almost always an ally. But that depends on the stock.

Blue-chip stocks come to mind. The companies behind these stocks are mature that generate significant profits that they return to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends. In fact, many of these companies are part of an elite group of dividend payers known as Dividend Aristocrats or Dividend Kings that have increased their dividends for 25 and 50 consecutive years, respectively. These names often attract large institutional ownership, which helps stabilize price movements and supports steady, long-term returns.

Yet long-term investing doesn’t have to be limited to dividend payers. Growth-oriented companies in emerging industries can also provide durable value if their business models scale successfully over time. Some speculative growth stocks eventually evolve into the next generation of blue chips—making them worth considering for patient investors.

Building a Sustainable Future in the Space Economy

Rocket Lab USA Inc. (NASDAQ: RKLB) remains speculative, with revenue in the hundreds of millions and no profitability yet.

However, the company is one of the best stocks to own in the emerging space sector. For now, much of the company’s revenue comes from its launch business, which sends satellites and their payloads into space. However, over time, the company plans to grow its services business significantly, making it an end-to-end space business.

RKLB stock has increased 473% in the last 12 months and is trading about 25% above analysts’ consensus price target. This explains why short interest in the stock is above 14%. Investors who need access to the capital invested in RKLB stock may want to lock in profits.

However, with over 70% institutional ownership, major investors appear confident in Rocket Lab’s sizable backlog and long-term potential. For investors with extended time horizons, this could be an early-stage growth story worth holding through volatility.

Premium Retail Power With Reliable Returns

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) offers the opposite profile — a mature, profitable business known for reliability. While trading at a rich valuation near 50x earnings, Costco’s membership-based model delivers recurring revenue and boasts a retention rate near 90%. The company recently raised its membership fee for the first time in seven years and has seen no drop in the retention rate.

This revenue goes almost directly to the company’s bottom line, and Costco has a long history of returning capital to shareholders through both buybacks and dividends. In fact, the company is known for issuing special dividends to its shareholders in addition to the quarterly payouts.

COST stock is trading at $915 per share as of this writing. However, for much of 2025, it was trading over $1,000 per share. Costco has a history of splitting its shares but has indicated it has no plans to do so. With a stock price that is too high for retail investors who might prefer to buy whole shares, hopes for a split will persist.

A Dividend King With a Deep Drug Pipeline

Biopharmaceutical companies are typically associated with speculative penny stocks, but AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) shows investors the other side of the story. AbbVie may not be a household name, but its drugs, such as Humira, Rinvoq, and Skyrizi, are all blockbusters that have propelled the growth in ABBV stock. The company also recently received FDA approval for its oncology drug, Emrelis.

The success of these drugs is evident in the ABBV stock total return of over 225% in the last five years. That includes a dividend that yields 2.8%. Plus, AbbVie has increased the payout of its dividend for 53 consecutive years, putting it in the elite Dividend King category.

But deciding if a biopharmaceutical stock is a long-term investment ultimately depends on its pipeline. AbbVie has over 90 drug candidates in clinical trials, with more than 50 of those in late-stage trials. These drugs span the areas of immunology, neuroscience, and oncology.

For long-term investors, AbbVie combines defensive income with meaningful growth potential, offering a balance rarely found in biopharma.

How It All Ties Together

Whether through Rocket Lab’s growth potential, Costco’s dependable business model, or AbbVie’s income and innovation, the underlying message is the same: time in the market matters more than timing the market. A mix of established dividend payers and emerging innovators can position long-term investors for both stability and growth—the essence of a durable portfolio.

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Insider Sales Jump at Broadcom and CoreWeave: Red Flag Ahead?

Written by Leo MillerInsider sales are common in public companies, but investors shouldn’t ignore them, especially when unusually high. This may signal insiders view shares as overvalued, a bearish sign. Still, employees and large shareholders need to sell stock for cash. Investors must analyze each sale to understand its true message; not all are bearish.

Below, we’ll detail two of the market’s most talked-about artificial intelligence (AI) stocks that have recently seen insider sales spike. Should investors truly worry about these sales, or are they simply distractions amid the big-time rallies in these stocks?

CRWV’s Hedge Fund Investor Massively Increased Sales in September

First up is CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), the NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)-backed neo cloud company that has seen its shares go on an incredible run. Since going public in March, shares are up by approximately 237%. The company has announced several deals with AI hyperscaler firms, leading to its huge gains. It also saw revenues rise by 207% last quarter and posted a backlog of $30.1 billion.

However, one of the company’s top investors is now moving out of the stock in a big way. Since Sept. 15, MarketBeat has tracked approximately $1.4 billion worth of insider selling from Magnetar Financial LLC, a hedge fund manager and one of the largest owners of CoreWeave shares. Magnetar’s recent sales are notable for several reasons. First, all these sales are discretionary, not under a predetermined plan. They provide a much clearer bearish signal than planned sales.

Additionally, Magnetar’s CoreWeave sales in a span of less than three weeks amount to more than all the company’s insiders’ sales in its history. That clearly amounts to a massive spike and should be a warning sign to investors. Lastly, Magnetar sold these shares at an average price of around $129. That’s around 4% below CoreWeave’s Oct. 2 closing price of nearly $135, further amplifying the bearish signal of Magnetar’s sales. The firm was willing to sell billions in CoreWeave stock, even when it was trading lower than it currently is.

Broadcom’s Insider Sales Soar, But How Much Trouble Do They Truly Spell?

Semiconductor giant Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) has also performed very impressively in 2025. Overall, shares have provided a total return of 47%, driven by robust demand for the firm’s custom AI chips. However, Broadcom has also seen insider sales balloon recently. In September alone, the company saw around $226 million worth of insider sales. That’s slightly more than the $222 million Broadcom saw from April to August, demonstrating the big uptick in selling. Given the stock’s huge appreciation, investors could view this as a red flag. However, it is also important to note that around $125 million, or 55% of these sales, were non-discretionary. This significantly mutes the bearish signal implied by the recent insider sales at Broadcom.

Broadcom’s discretionary sales in September average out to a price of around $340. With Broadcom shares trading at around $338, insiders may not see much more near-term upside in the stock. Despite insider sales, Broadcom remains a strongly growing, highly profitable, and technologically advanced company, maintaining solid long-term prospects. Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan’s long-term AI-driven compensation plan further supports this idea.

CRWV & AVGO: A Tale of 2 Different Insider Sale Signals

Based on the nature of their insider sales, those coming from CoreWeave insiders are much more worrisome than those from Broadcom insiders. Magentar’s sales aren’t overly surprising, given that CoreWeave shares have gone on an absolutely massive run. Overall, investors may want to consider whether smart money is noticing that CoreWeave shares are being driven too much by hype and not enough by fundamentals.

Notably, the firm’s capital expenditures were $2.9 billion last quarter, around 2.4 times higher than its revenue of $1.2 billion. CoreWeave will eventually need to flip this dynamic over the next few years or risk the market changing its tune on this stock. Still, it is very possible that the market will keep rewarding this name for growth in the short term.

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