Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. LLY scored 77.3, NVO scored 43.5 — LLY leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. LLY's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but NVO's are as of December 2025 — a 6-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
LLY
Eli Lilly and Company
Drug Manufacturers - General · Quality-Growth
77.3
$1,179.27 · $1.1T
fundamentals as of
Score gap
33.8
LLY leads
NVO
Novo Nordisk A/S
Drug Manufacturers - General · Quality-Growth
43.5
$38.64 · $170.6B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestNVO9.4x
Fastest growthLLY+49.6%
Strongest balance sheetNVO0.63
Highest qualityNVO89 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
LLY
stronger →← stronger
NVO
79
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
89
97
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
50
60
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
22
LLY is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
LLY
NVO
$13.6bA-
FCF
$7.2bB+
+49.6%A
Rev
+6.4%C+
1.62C
D/E
0.63C+
39.6xC+
P/E
9.4xA
1.13B+
PEG
—
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
LLY
NVO
234% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
51% above
~48%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~16%/yr
-77%
1-yr DCF upside
-36%
-70%
5-yr DCF upside
-34%
-56%
10-yr DCF upside
-31%
These two disagree on this pair: the Value pillar ranks cheapness against sector peers, while price-vs-fair-value is an absolute read. A name can be the better value in its sector and still the dearer one on cash flows.
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
LLY
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
NVO
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
Foreign reporter (DKK)
The companies
LLYEli Lilly and Company
Drug Manufacturers - General · $1,179.27 · beta 0.45
Why now
Drug Manufacturers - General · market cap $1.1T. 9% off the 52-week high of $1292.65. Revenue growing +50% — in hypergrowth territory. 29 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $1,330 (implying +13% upside).
Moat
Net margin 34% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 79% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $1.1T market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
Trailing P/E 40x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. P/S 13.2x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard. Trial-readout binary — late-stage clinical trials carry approve/reject outcomes that swing valuation 30%+; the equity is effectively a portfolio of these binary events, not a steady cash-flow business.
NVONovo Nordisk A/S
Drug Manufacturers - General · $38.64 · beta 0.38
Why now
Drug Manufacturers - General · market cap $170.6b. Down 40% from 52-week high of $64.16 — deep drawdown territory. 12 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $46.09 (implying +19% upside).
Moat
Net margin 33% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 53% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $170.6b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Down 40% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Trial-readout binary — late-stage clinical trials carry approve/reject outcomes that swing valuation 30%+; the equity is effectively a portfolio of these binary events, not a steady cash-flow business.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where LLY and NVO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 33.8 points in favor of LLY. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthLLY 97.0 · NVO 50.2LLY +46.8
ValueLLY 60.1 · NVO 21.5LLY +38.6
QualityLLY 79.2 · NVO 88.5NVO +9.3
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is LLY or NVO the better stock?
LLY scores higher: LLY 77.3, NVO 43.5 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do LLY and NVO differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where LLY leads by 47 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are LLY and NVO scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.