Lilly's obesity drug strength fuels record rally, Wall Street optimism

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly LLY.N shares surged to a record high on Thursday, as sales of blockbuster weight-loss injections helped the drugmaker beat quarterly profit expectations and raise its full-year revenue forecast, reinforcing its lead in the booming obesity market.

Shares of the world's most valuable healthcare company hit a record high of $1,408.34 in early trading and were last up 7.5% at $1,389. If those gains hold, it would add roughly $80 billion to Eli Lilly's market capitalization of about $1.2 trillion.

Below are some reactions from Wall Street analysts and investors:

DAVID WAGNER, HEAD OF EQUITY AND PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT APTUS CAPITAL ADVISORS

"Lilly keeps doing what Lilly does... and that's the third guidance raise this year, so the core franchise is still running ahead of the script. The long-term story is right on track, and the oral (Foundayo) launch is the thing to keep an eye on."

KEVIN GADE, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT BAHL & GAYNOR

"Excellent quarter. It feels like anything that could go right did go right for Eli Lilly, not only in the quarter, but year to date."

"Clearly, the trajectory is for a strong fourth quarter with the large full-year revenue raise."

CHRIS SCHOTT, ANALYST AT J.P. MORGAN

"Lilly remains our top pick with further upside to Street numbers over the next several years (especially ex-US)."

Schott noted a series of upcoming catalysts expected to extend the company's lead in the over $200 billion obesity and diabetes market.

EVAN SEIGERMAN, BMO CAPITAL MARKETS ANALYST

"A steep miss for Foundayo will likely raise questions around realized lift from ongoing pricing strategy and access expansion efforts... Despite price erosion across the (GLP-1) portfolio, volumes continue to meaningfully offset such headwinds."

DANIEL BARASA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT GABELLI FUNDS

"The significant uptick in deal-making is a reasonable diversification of the business given their strong cash position from the explosive growth in GLP-1s."

"Pricing outside Medicare appears resilient, and recent prescription trends may partly reflect seasonality."

SEAMUS FERNANDEZ, ANALYST AT GUGGENHEIM SECURITIES

"Cardiometabolic continued to outperform with significant beats in diabetes drugs Mounjaro and Jardiance."

The company's Alzheimer's drug Kisunla is slowly moving to blockbuster status, he added.

Third-quarter Kisunla sales of $193 million topped analysts' estimates of $175.2 million.