LLY
Eli Lilly and Company
LLY has the edge over WAT overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
WAT
Waters Corporation
WAT trails on the overall score without a compensating advantage in the available component scores.
LLY Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
LLY's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
WAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Unavailable | |
| Under pressure |
WAT's revenue is currently strong, and its profitability is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its cash flow.
LLY PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 27x | $845 | -41% |
| Forward | 30x | $1,427 | — |
| Current | 46x | $1,427 | — |
| Fair | 48x | $1,466 | +2.7% |
| Expensive | 85x | $2,612 | +83% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LLY has the edge over WAT in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
WAT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 25x | $59.10 | -87% |
| Forward | 29x | $462 | — |
| Fair | 30x | $69.21 | -85% |
| Expensive | 36x | $83.13 | -82% |
| Current | 198x | $462 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WAT's PE is in its expensive range at 198x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 29x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
LLY Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
LLY has the edge over WAT on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
WAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WAT, but weaker profitability.
LLY Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $46.82 | +52% |
| Q3 2026 | $30.81 | +51% |
| Q2 2026 | $29.80 | +95% |
| Q1 2026 | $28.15 | +129% |
| Q4 2025 | $22.95 | +96% |
| Q3 2025 | $20.44 | +121% |
| Q2 2025 | $15.30 | +88% |
| Q1 2025 | $12.29 | +81% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.71 | +102% |
LLY has the edge over WAT on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
WAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $15.99 | +586% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.33 | -79% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.01 | -64% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.87 | -29% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.77 | +0.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $10.88 | +3.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $11.09 | +10% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.02 | +8.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.71 | -1.3% |
WAT's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $2.33 over the past year, against $11.75 in late 2022.
LLY Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $24.4B | +39% |
| Q2 2026 | $23B | +48% |
| Q1 2026 | $19.8B | +56% |
| Q4 2025 | $19.3B | +43% |
| Q3 2025 | $17.6B | +54% |
| Q2 2025 | $15.6B | +38% |
| Q1 2025 | $12.7B | +45% |
| Q4 2024 | $13.5B | +45% |
LLY has the edge over WAT on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 34% | -6.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 40% | -3.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 45% | +18 points |
| Q4 2025 | 43% | +5.6 points |
| Q3 2025 | 41% | +27 points |
| Q2 2025 | 44% | +12 points |
| Q1 2025 | 27% | -1.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 37% | +10 points |
LLY has the edge over WAT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
WAT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.8B | +121% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | +113% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.3B | +91% |
| Q4 2025 | $932.4M | +6.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $799.9M | +8% |
| Q2 2025 | $771.3M | +8.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $661.7M | +3.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $872.7M | +6.5% |
WAT's revenue has grown year over year for nine quarters in a row: $1.8B last quarter, up 121% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.2% | -17 points |
| Q2 2026 | -5.2% | -30 points |
| Q1 2026 | -3.7% | -27 points |
| Q4 2025 | 29% | -4.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 24% | -4.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -2.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 23% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 33% | +1.3 points |
WAT's operating margin was 7.2% last quarter, down 17 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
LLY Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $8.2B | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $7.8B | +458% |
| Q1 2026 | $3B | +1826% |
| Q4 2025 | $677.9M | -31% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.7B | +186% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.4B | +476% |
| Q1 2025 | $156.1M | -13% |
| Q4 2024 | $977.8M | +$2.4B |
LLY has the stronger cash trend. Its trailing FCF is up 259% versus its history, compared with WAT at down 48%.
WAT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $54M | -71% |
| Q2 2026 | $153M | +272% |
| Q1 2026 | -$42M | -116% |
| Q3 2025 | $187.3M | -8.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $41.1M | -25% |
| Q1 2025 | $259.6M | -1.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $240.1M | +4.4% |
| Q3 2024 | $204.6M | +30% |
WAT still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2020 peak: $352M over the past year.
LLY Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -300K shares |
| 1 year | -0.6% | -5.4M shares |
| 3 years | -0.7% | -6.4M shares |
| 5 years | -1.9% | -17.4M shares |
| Available history | -4.5% | -42.3M shares |
LLY has the edge over WAT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $377M |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.4B |
| Q4 2025 | $1.5B |
| Q3 2025 | $708.1M |
| Q2 2025 | $692.2M |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2B |
| Q4 2024 | $2.1B |
LLY spent $5.8B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 26% from the year before.
WAT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +66% | +39.2M shares |
| 1 year | +66% | +39.3M shares |
| 3 years | +67% | +39.7M shares |
| 5 years | +58% | +36.4M shares |
| Available history | +54% | +34.7M shares |
WAT has 99M diluted shares, up 66% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1M |
| Q2 2026 | $2M |
| Q1 2026 | $12M |
| Q4 2025 | $144,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $214,000 |
| Q2 2025 | $375,000 |
| Q1 2025 | $13.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $66,000 |
WAT has spent almost nothing on buybacks in the past year.
LLY Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 2.0x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.1x | Moderate |
LLY has the edge over WAT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
WAT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 4.6x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.5x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4x | Healthy |
WAT's net debt is about 3.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year a year ago.
LLY Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 68.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 84.1 | Overbought |
LLY's weekly RSI is 68 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 84 (overbought).
WAT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 71.2 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 79.0 | Neutral |
WAT's weekly RSI is 71 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 79 (neutral).
LLY PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | LLY | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 46x | 26x | 79% above |
| PE % | 48 | 29 | 19 pts above |
LLY has the edge over WAT on valuation relative to its sector.
WAT PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | WAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 198x | 26x | 667% above |
| PE % | 100 | 29 | 71 pts above |
WAT is trading at 198x earnings, a 667% premium to the Healthcare sector's median of 26x.
LLY Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $1,279.4 | 12% above |
| 20 week MA | $1,218.8 | 17% above |
| 50 week MA | $1,102.2 | 29% above |
| 100 week MA | $954.1 | 50% above |
| 200 week MA | $797.5 | 79% above |
LLY is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 79% above its 200-week average.
WAT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $445.7 | 3.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $416.3 | 11% above |
| 50 week MA | $375.3 | 23% above |
| 100 week MA | $361.7 | 28% above |
| 200 week MA | $336.3 | 37% above |
WAT is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 37% above its 200-week average.
LLY Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $131.5 | $166.7 | +27% |
| 2021 | $166.7 | $273.1 | +64% |
| 2022 | $273.1 | $367.9 | +35% |
| 2023 | $367.9 | $582.9 | +58% |
| 2024 | $582.9 | $783.2 | +34% |
| 2025 | $783.2 | $1,077.8 | +38% |
| 2026 YTD | $1,077.8 | $1,427.3 | +32% |
LLY has the edge over WAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
WAT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $233.8 | $247.1 | +5.7% |
| 2021 | $247.1 | $361.7 | +46% |
| 2022 | $361.7 | $346.7 | -4.2% |
| 2023 | $346.7 | $329.2 | -5% |
| 2024 | $329.2 | $374.6 | +14% |
| 2025 | $374.6 | $386.1 | +3.1% |
| 2026 YTD | $386.1 | $462.2 | +20% |
WAT has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's up 20% so far in 2026.