Eli Lilly ( LLY 0.89%) has been growing its sales at a good clip over the past year. This is partly thanks to Zepbound, a weight loss medicine that's already generating more than $1 billion in quarterly sales, although it was approved only in late 2023.

Eli Lilly reported promising results from a study of its experimental oral drug that could rival popular injections to treat obesity and diabetes.

Shares of Eli Lilly jumped 16% Thursday morning after the pharmaceutical company released clinical trial results for its oral weight-loss drug that "demonstrated statistically significant efficacy results and a safety profile consistent with injectable GLP-1 medicines.