The week ending August 8, 2026 delivered a pair of earnings results that reinforced two of the most powerful secular growth trends in the market today: the explosion in demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs, and the insatiable appetite for artificial intelligence computing power. Eli Lilly (LLY) crushed its second-quarter estimates on August 5 and raised its full-year outlook for the third consecutive time. Nvidia (NVDA) has not yet reported its next quarter — that comes August 26 — but reports of Blackwell chip shortages are building the anticipation. Both stocks are worth understanding before the next leg of the rally.
Eli Lilly: A $1 Trillion Company Growing at 48%
It is rare for a company with a market cap above $1.00 trillion to grow revenue at 48% year over year. Eli Lilly did exactly that in Q2 2026. Revenue came in at $22.97 billion, up 48% from $15.53 billion in Q2 2025 — a pace of expansion that most early-stage startups would envy. Adjusted EPS was $8.04, beating the Wall Street consensus of approximately $7.12 by a wide margin. Reported diluted EPS was $7.94. Operating income reached $8.98 billion on an operating margin of 39%, and gross margin expanded to 86% — one of the highest in the entire pharmaceutical industry.
The two drugs driving this performance are Mounjaro and Zepbound, both GLP-1 receptor agonists used for diabetes management and weight loss, respectively. Mounjaro sales surged 91% year over year to $9.94 billion, driven largely by strong international uptake as Lilly expands into new markets. Zepbound, approved for weight loss in the U.S. in late 2023, generated $5.42 billion in Q2 revenue, up 78% from the same period last year. Together these two drugs generated nearly $15.40 billion of the company's $22.97 billion in quarterly revenue.
Management raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $85.00 billion to $87.00 billion, up from the prior guidance of $82.00 billion to $85.00 billion. The new midpoint of $86.00 billion would represent roughly 38% full-year revenue growth versus 2025. The raise was driven not just by GLP-1 momentum but also by the newly launched Foundayo, Lilly's first oral obesity pill, which received U.S. approval in April 2026. An oral weight loss pill that is both effective and convenient has the potential to dramatically expand the addressable market beyond the injectable versions.
LLY shares dipped 0.59% to $1,184.92 on August 7, pulling back slightly from a strong post-earnings run. The 52-week range is $623.78 to $1,249.45, and the stock is trading at a P/E of 39.80 — elevated but arguably justified given the growth rate. The market cap stands at $1.12 trillion. Of 16 covering analysts, 93.8% rate it a Buy or Outperform. The average price target is $1,346.06, with a median of $1,363.00 and a street-high of $1,600.00 — all well above the current price.
Nvidia: Every Analyst on Wall Street Rates It a Buy
Nvidia does not report its Q2 FY2027 results until August 26, 2026, but the setup heading into that print may be as strong as any in the company's history. The most recent quarter — Q1 FY2027, reported April 26, 2026 — showed revenue of $81.62 billion, up 92% year over year and 20% sequentially from the $68.13 billion posted in Q4 FY2026. Operating income reached $53.54 billion on an operating margin of 66% and gross margin of 75% — numbers that are extraordinary at this scale. Net income was $58.32 billion for the quarter.
The data center segment, which includes sales of AI accelerators including the Blackwell GPU architecture, now accounts for 92% of Nvidia's total revenue. That concentration is not a risk — it is a feature. Demand for Blackwell systems is reportedly exceeding supply, with Wedbush analysts noting earlier this week that GB300 and B300 accelerators are "getting harder to source" — language they said evokes Nvidia's Ampere and Hopper cycles, both of which preceded major revenue step-ups. The Wall Street consensus for Q2 FY2027 revenue is approximately $91.00 billion, which would mark yet another quarterly record.
NVDA rose 1.83% to $223.00 on August 7. The stock sits at a P/E of 34.12 on TTM earnings and holds a market cap of $5.40 trillion — the largest in the world. The 52-week range runs from $164.07 to $236.54. The analyst community has reached a rare unanimous verdict: of 19 covering analysts, 100% rate it a Buy or Outperform. Not a single Hold. Not a single Sell. The average price target is $329.47, with a median of $325.00 and a street-high of $500.00 — implying 48% to 124% upside from current levels depending on the estimate.
The contrast between LLY and NVDA is instructive. Lilly is printing massive numbers today — $23.00 billion in quarterly revenue, 86% gross margins, guidance that keeps moving higher. Nvidia is printing massive numbers too, but the market is looking past the current quarter to August 26 and what comes after. Both represent businesses where the demand curve keeps surprising to the upside, and both are benefiting from trends — the obesity drug revolution and the AI infrastructure buildout — that have multiple years of runway remaining.
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