Munger Mode rating: 3 out of 5 — Hold. Our own rating from the research report below, on business quality first: moat durability and management, with price separating the top three.
We have spent our careers avoiding businesses whose economics depend on a patent clock, and Lilly is the best argument against our own prejudice. In four years this company has gone from a mid-table drugmaker with a flat decade behind it to the largest pharmaceutical franchise ever built, on the back of a single molecule, tirzepatide, that does something no drug did before: it makes a fifth of a person disappear safely. Gross margins are 86 percent. Operating margins have doubled to 50 percent. Return on invested capital is north of 40 percent. Management has been candid, capable, and early on every hard decision that mattered. So why only three stars? Because a wonderful business is not the same thing as a wonderful investment, and the price is doing all the work here.
Recent filings analysed: 8-K (2026-08-05), 10-Q (2026-08-05), 8-K (2026-05-20), 8-K (2026-05-07).
Stock screener · Superinvestor 13F holdings · Analyst sentiment · Market valuation