Eli Lilly And Co.‘s LLY recent, and highly unusual, issuance of a 40-year bond is fueling speculation that the pharmaceutical giant may be preparing for a major acquisition, with Viking Therapeutics Inc. VKTX emerging as a potential target.
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LLY Setting Up For Something ‘BIG’?
The move prompted Chief Market Strategist Shay Boloor of Futurum Equities to declare that a company like Lilly “doesn’t issue a 40-year bond unless they’re setting up for something BIG.”
The speculation intensified as Boloor pointed to LLY’s recent “underwhelming Phase 3 GLP-1 data (12% weight loss in 72 weeks),” adding that it was “hard not to wonder if they’re lining up dry powder for a move on $VKTX.”
Adding weight to this theory is the recent news that billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller‘s Duquesne Family Office LLC has acquired 549,295 shares worth $15 million in Viking, a company making waves in the highly competitive weight-loss drug market.
Eli Lilly Issues Rare 40-Year Bond
Eli Lilly’s decision to launch a multi-tranche debt deal, including the rare 40-year note, is a significant outlier in a market where most companies are hesitant to lock in long-term rates.
In 2025, bonds with maturities of 30 years or more have constituted only 11% of investment-grade corporate bond sales, according to GuruFocus. Lilly is taking advantage of a brief dip in yields, with strong demand indicated by order books swelling to five times the deal size.
While the official use for the proceeds is listed as “general corporate purposes,” the scale and timing of the move suggest a more strategic play. The deal, managed by a syndicate of top banks including Citi, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan, is expected to receive high-grade ratings.
By securing a massive amount of capital at current rates, Eli Lilly could be strategically positioning itself for a significant acquisition, making the whispers about Viking Therapeutics all the more compelling.
Price Action
Eli Lilly fell 0,45% to $698.05 on Monday and declined 0.24% in after-hours trading. It has lost 10.28% on a year-to-date basis and 24.27% over the past year.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that LLY maintains a weaker price trend in the short, medium, and long terms. However, the stock scores well on growth and quality rankings. Additional performance details are available here.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, ended slightly below the flat line on Monday. The SPY was down 0.022% at $643.30, while the QQQ declined 0.040% to $577.11, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On Tuesday, the futures of the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 indices were trading lower.
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