Eli Lilly and Intuitive Surgical Are Healthcare Stocks Worth Buying, Thanks to Strong Fundamentals

Some stocks are so appealing, thanks to their extremely strong businesses and bright prospects, that they are simply too good to pass up. Eli Lilly (LLY) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) are two healthcare companies that fall into this category. Both stocks have delivered excellent returns over the past decade, yet neither has peaked. Here is why Eli Lilly and Intuitive Surgical are standout stocks worth buying.

A Leader in the Weight-Loss Drug Space

Obesity is regarded as an epidemic. It affects a considerable proportion of the population, particularly in the United States, where about 40% of adults are living with obesity, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity is linked to dozens of diseases and costs the U.S. healthcare system tens of billions of dollars annually. For these reasons, the weight-management drug market is growing rapidly, and Eli Lilly is currently the leader in this segment.

The company’s approved product portfolio includes the injectable anti-obesity drug Zepbound and the oral medication Foundayo. Both drugs are performing well, helping Eli Lilly’s revenue grow at a pace far exceeding that of its mid-sized pharmaceutical peers.

However, in the coming years, Eli Lilly will begin to face more competition in this space. But there is no need to worry: the company is investing heavily in developing next-generation obesity treatments, some of which may prove even more effective than current therapies.

Eli Lilly is seeking to expand the market, as Foundayo has done by attracting an entirely new patient population. The company’s newer, differentiated drugs may have a similar effect. For example, Eli Lilly’s retatrutide recently showed in an 80-week Phase 3 study that overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes achieved an average weight loss of up to 20.8%.

This result is impressive because weight loss is typically more difficult for diabetic patients, and retatrutide could be highly effective in helping them shed pounds, largely because it works by activating three natural hormonal pathways—whereas most approved therapies activate only one or two—to help people eat less, burn more calories, and better control blood sugar.

Retatrutide is just one example of Eli Lilly’s deep R&D pipeline in this area, which should allow it to ride the tailwinds of the weight-loss drug trend over the next five years. Even outside that market, Eli Lilly possesses a vast R&D pipeline in other fields, as well as other blockbuster drugs in its approved portfolio. Eli Lilly has been one of the best-performing large pharmaceutical giants in recent years and should maintain that momentum. This stock is a no-brainer buy.

The Sell-Off Was Overdone

Intuitive Surgical has faced some headwinds in recent years, including increased competition, tariffs, and lower margins on its latest version of the da Vinci surgical system. The company’s stock has significantly underperformed the broader market, falling 33% over the past 12 months. However, Intuitive Surgical’s medium-term outlook remains strong, making the current pullback a buying opportunity.

Here is why the business remains healthy. Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci 5 has been a major success and presents an attractive opportunity for the company, despite its lower margins. This new device allows surgeons to sense the amount of force being applied and runs on a much more powerful computer—advantages that, over time, could enable smarter software, AI-assisted surgery, fewer errors, and better patient outcomes.

This means that, ultimately, it could expand indications and potentially increase the adoption rate of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS). Therefore, in the long run, focusing on the company’s long-term opportunity makes the lower margins on the da Vinci 5 worthwhile. This also helps Intuitive Surgical stay ahead of the competition. The company’s da Vinci systems are backed by more than 20 years of real-world data, but continuous innovation is critical, and the da Vinci 5 represents that innovation.

In addition, Intuitive Surgical benefits from a wide moat driven by high switching costs, because its expensive equipment—which also has a steep learning curve—is too valuable for hospitals to replace with competitors’ offerings. This gives the company pricing power, which it can potentially use to mitigate the impact of tariffs on its financial results. Intuitive Surgical’s stock may remain volatile over the next year or so, but five years from now, it could be considerably higher than current levels, and patience will be rewarded.

 

礼来与Intuitive Surgical凭借强劲基本面，成为值得买入的医疗股

 

一些股票因其极其强劲的业务和广阔的前景而显得极具吸引力，不容错过。礼来（LLY）和Intuitive Surgical（ISRG）这两家医疗保健公司就属于此类。这两只股票在过去十年中带来了优异的回报，但都尚未见顶。以下是为什么礼来和Intuitive Surgical是值得买入的杰出股票。

减肥药领域的领导者

肥胖被视为一种流行病。它影响着相当大比例的人口，尤其是在美国，根据美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，约40%的成年人患有肥胖症。肥胖与数十种疾病有关，每年给美国医疗保健系统造成数百亿美元的损失。基于这些原因，体重管理药物市场正在快速增长，而礼来目前是该细分领域的领导者。

该公司已获批的产品组合包括皮下注射抗肥胖药物Zepbound和口服药Foundayo。这两种药物表现良好，帮助礼来的营收增长速度远超制药行业中等规模的同业公司。

然而，未来几年礼来在这一领域将开始面临更多竞争。不过不必担心：该公司正在大力研发下一代减肥疗法，其中一些可能会比现有疗法效果更佳。

礼来正寻求扩大市场，正如Foundayo所做的那样，该药主要吸引的是全新的患者。该公司更新的、具有差异化的药物可能也会起到同样作用。例如，礼来的retatrutide在一项为期80周的3期研究中，近期显示超重或肥胖的2型糖尿病患者平均体重减轻高达20.8%。

这一成绩令人印象深刻，因为糖尿病患者减重通常更为困难，而retatrutide在帮助他们减重方面可能非常有效，这主要得益于它通过激活三种天然激素通路（而大多数已获批疗法只激活一种或两种）来发挥作用，帮助人们减少进食、燃烧更多热量并更好地控制血糖。

Retatrutide只是礼来在这一领域深厚研发管线的一个例子，这有助于其在未来五年乘上减肥药发展的顺风。即便在该市场之外，礼来在其他领域也拥有庞大的研发管线，以及已获批产品组合中的其他重磅药物。礼来是近年来表现最佳的制药巨头之一，且应会保持这一势头。该股是不假思索就该买入的股票。

抛售反应过度

Intuitive Surgical近年来面临一些不利因素，包括竞争加剧、关税以及其最新版达芬奇手术系统利润率下降。该公司股价表现显著逊于大盘，过去12个月下跌了33%。然而，Intuitive Surgical的中期前景依然强劲，使得当前的回调成为买入机会。

以下说明该业务仍然健康的原因。Intuitive Surgical推出的da Vinci 5取得了巨大成功，并为公司带来了诱人的机遇，尽管其利润率较低。这款新设备让外科医生能够感知所用力度的大小，并运行在功能强大得多的计算机上，这些优势随着时间推移，可能实现更智能的软件、人工智能辅助手术、更少的失误以及更好的患者预后。

这意味着最终可能增加适应症，并可能提高机器人辅助手术（RAS）的采用率。因此，从长远来看，聚焦于公司的长期机遇，da Vinci 5较低的利润率是值得的。这也有助于Intuitive Surgical在竞争中保持领先。该公司的达芬奇系统已有超过20年的真实世界数据作为支撑，但持续创新至关重要，而da Vinci 5正是其创新成果。

此外，Intuitive Surgical受益于高转换成本带来的宽广护城河，因为其昂贵的设备（同时学习曲线陡峭）对医院来说价值过高，难以用竞争对手的设备替代。这赋予了该公司定价权，它可能借此来减轻关税对财务业绩的影响。Intuitive Surgical的股价在未来一年左右可能仍会波动，但五年后，它可能远高于当前水平，耐心将有回报。