WEIGHT-LOSS SHAKE-UP: Employers pull back on weight-loss drug coverage

72% TO 60% IN A SINGLE YEAR. EVERY EMPLOYER THAT DROPS COVERAGE TAKES PAYING PATIENTS OFF LILLY'S BOOKS. BUT TODAY'S COUNTDOWN CLOSER STILL LIKES THE STOCK. MOTLEY FOOL CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGY BILL MANN. BILL, I LOOKED AT THIS STUDY, AND IT TOOK PLACE OVER THE PERIOD OF A YEAR. AND THERE REALLY APPEARED TO BE A DECLINE IN THE COST OF EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE ON THESE GLH 1 DRUGS AT LEAST ON ZEPBOUND -- GLP-1 DRUGS. AND YET YOU SEE EMPLOYERS DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR IT ANYMORE. KIND OF MISGUIDED, I THINK, OR A LITTLE MYOPIC. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE STOCK MOVING AHEAD? >> IT'S A CLASSIC CASH VERSUS ACCRUAL SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE REAL CASH OUTLAYS SO COMPANIES ARE LOOKING AT THEIR INSURANCE COSTS FOR GLP-ISs LIKE SEPP -- ZEPBOUND, LIKE WE 2007 I HAVE AND SAYING WE'RE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY ON THIS, BUT THEY HAVE NOT FULLY TAKEN ON THE BENEFIT THAT THEY WILL HAVE FOR THE LONG TAIL OF THEIR INSURANCE COSTS TO THE COMPANIES THEMSELVES. THESE ARE INCREDIBLY PROFITABLE REVENUES FOR ELI LILLY. THEY JUST RAISED GUIDANCE TO $87 BILLION IN REVENUE, AND THEIR GROSS MARGINS ARE ABOUT 86%, SO VERY, VERY PROFITABLE. AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING THAT THEY ARE, THEY'RE SAYING WITH THE DRUG CANS BEING BROUGHT ON TO MEDICARE AND, YOU KNOW, ON TO A NEW SCHEDULE, THAT THERE IS ACTUALLY A TAILWIND FOR ELI LILLY. LIZ: OKAY. YOU KNOW WHAT? IT'S DONE VERY WELL OVER THE PAST YEAR, UP ABOUT 71%. KIND OF BUYING IT AT THE HIGHS IF YOU WERE TO BUY IT RIGHT NOW. YOU'RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT? >> A COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN OWNED FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND SO I BELIEVE THAT EVEN AT THE TRILLION PLUS VALUATION FOR ELI LILLY, THAT YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK BACK AND FIND THAT THIS WAS NOT A PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING VALUATION AT ALL. THEY ARE SAYING THAT THEY BELIEVE THAT 30 MILLION PEOPLE WILL BE USING FINISHING LP-1s BY THE END OF THIS YEAR WHICH IS ROUGHLY TRIPLE FROM WHERE IT'S BEEN A YEAR AGO. SO SO THEY DO HAVE IS, THEY DO HAVE TAILWINDS. OF COURSE, WHEN YOU BUY THINGS AT A HIGH, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS EXPECT THAT THE MARKET MIGHT NOT MOVE IN A STRAIGHT LINE, BUT WE'RE CONFIDENT OVER THE LONG TERM. LIZ: $1.1 TRILLION MARKET CAP. IT'S MOVING UP. ALL RIGHT. ADOBE IS YOUR PICK FOR TECH, AND THIS AS WE'RE WAITING ON THE BIG TECH NAME, NVIDIA EARNINGS. WHY ADOBE? THIS IS AN UNLOVED STOCK. >> IT IS A DEEPLY UNLOVED STOCK, AND THAT IS PART OF THE REASON WHY WE HAVE IT IN THE MOTLEY FOOL ASSET MANAGEMENT'S VALUE FUND. IT HAS AN ADVANTAGE OVER MOST A.I. BECAUSE THEIR FIRE FLY A.I. IS TRAINED ON THEIR LIBRARY OF LICENSED IMAGES. SO WE ALWAYS THINK OF A.I. ASKING WITH SOMETHING THAT'S GOING TO KILL PHOTOSHOP, BUT PHOTOSHOP JUST HAD ITS HIGHEST REVENUES EVER, SO IT'S A COMPANY THAT IS AN ENTITY THAT HAS AN ADVANTAGE OVER, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU REALLY SEE AND OR YOU KNOW, WHAT WE MIGHT CALL A.I. SLOP BECAUSE OF THAT -- LIZ: BILL, WE'VE GOT TO RUN.