The Zacks Analyst Blog Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Intuitive Surgical, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson

For Immediate ReleasesChicago, IL – January 6, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Eli Lilly and Co. LLY, Medtronic plc MDT, Intuitive Surgical Inc. ISRG, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. REGN and Johnson & Johnson JNJ. Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:Watch AI-Powered Medical Stocks for a Strong Portfolio in 2026The medical sector is one of the major adopters of artificial intelligence (AI), which is currently being used to synthesize new compounds for drugs and create devices for more precise measurement and faster as well as more accurate diagnosis.AI fundamentally reshaped the medical landscape in 2024, revolutionizing diagnostics, treatment and operational efficiency. AI-powered diagnostics have taken center stage, enhancing accuracy and speed.The healthcare sector is generally defensive in nature. Most of the stocks are characterized as low-beta and dividend paying. However, extensive use of AI has transformed several of these stocks into potential high-growth providers.Five such stocks are: Eli Lilly and Co., Medtronic plc, Intuitive Surgical Inc., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Johnson & Johnson.Eli Lilly and Co.Eli Lilly boasts a wide range of products that serve a vast number of therapeutic areas. LLY focuses primarily on cardiometabolic health, neuroscience, oncology and immunology, which are all high-growth areas and represent huge commercial potential.Demand for LLY’s popular GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, remains strong, making them the company’s key top-line drivers. Launches of these drugs in new international markets and improved supply from ramped-up production have led to strong year-to-date sales in 2025.Eli Lilly’s other new drugs, such as Kisunla, Omvoh and Jaypirca are also contributing to its top-line growth. LLY is also making rapid pipeline progress in obesity and diabetes with an oral GLP-1 obesity pill, orforglipron, expected to be launched next year.Eli Lilly collaborated with OpenAI to discover novel medicines to assist doctors and other medical professionals. LLY also invested $409 million into Genetic Leap, a biotech company that uses AI models to discover RNA-targeted drugs.On Oct. 28, 2025, LLY announced that it is building the most powerful supercomputer in the pharmaceutical space, in collaboration with NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA). Management said, “The supercomputer will power an AI factory, a specialized computing infrastructure that manages the entire AI lifecycle from data ingestion and training to fine-tuning and high-volume inference.”Eli Lilly has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 22.3% and 41.3%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.7% over the last 30 days. It has a beta of 0.35 and a current dividend yield of 0.6%.LLY has a return on equity (ROE) of 109.5% compared with the industry’s ROE of 37% and the S&P 500’s ROE of 17%. Currently, Eli Lilly sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.MedtronicMedtronic is actively incorporating AI into its solutions to elevate patient care and optimize operations. In surgical systems, MDT’s collaboration with Vizient has introduced an AI-powered surgical video management and analytics platform designed to enhance visualization and data-driven decision-making for improved surgical outcomes.MDT’s highly promising AI-based endoscopy module — the GI Genius project — is essentially a computer algorithm-aided detection system. These AI algorithms find patterns of colorectal polyps during a colonoscopy, which the physician may miss during the scan. Consequently, it increases survival likelihood of colorectal cancer patients by collecting polyps before they become malignant.MDT’s partnership with CathWorks leverages AI to optimize cardiac procedures, improve diagnostic precision and boost patient outcomes. This will drive Medtronic’s growth by improving clinical results, streamlining workflows and solidifying its leadership in medtech innovation. The strategic integration of AI positions MDT to shape the future of healthcare through intelligent, data-driven solutions.Medtronic is expanding globally to address the unmet demand for advanced medical devices. Within Cardiovascular, it is gaining market share, as CAS, CRM and Structural Heart, with Micra, Aurora EV-ICD and Evolut TAVR are showing uptake. Hypertension presents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity as Medtronic ramps up for CMS coverage of Symplicity.Medtronic has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 7.5% and 2.7%, respectively, for the current year (ending April 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.4% over the last 60 days.MDT has a beta of 0.71 and a current dividend yield of 3%. It has an ROE of 14.9% compared with the industry’s ROE of -2.5% and the S&P 500’s ROE of 17%. Currently Medtronic carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Intuitive SurgicalZacks Rank #2 Intuitive Surgical is increasingly embedding AI and digital tools into its robotic ecosystem. Case Insights, integrated into da Vinci 5, combines surgical video with force and motion data, enabling objective performance indicators for surgeons. Early studies link such metrics to clinical outcomes, such as length of hospital stay in colorectal surgeries.These AI-enabled insights provide both training value for novice surgeons and real-time decision support for experts. Additionally, ISRG is piloting telecollaboration through Intuitive Telepresence, allowing remote surgical support and education.Commercial scaling, workflow changes, and regulatory adjustments align Intuitive Surgical with broader AI-driven healthcare transformation. Over time, digital and AI features may become significant differentiators, deepening the company’s clinical moat and expanding its revenue streams.ISRG delivered a strong third-quarter, beating revenue and EPS estimates. The da Vinci 5 system gained momentum with 240 U.S. placements, raising its installed base to 929, alongside approvals in Europe and Japan for phased rollout.Intuitive Surgical has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 14.3% and 11.1%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.4% over the last 30 days. ISRG has an ROE of 15.1% compared with the industry’s ROE of -18.7% and the S&P 500’s ROE of 17%.Regeneron PharmaceuticalsZacks Rank #2 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals extensively uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) across its operations, primarily for Drug Target Identification and Validation, Clinical Trial Optimization, Precision Medicine and clinical data management and analytics. REGN has partnered with Viz.ai to study an AI-enabled tool that uses natural language processing (NLP) to analyze EHR data.Regeneron has put up a decent performance in 2025, as revenues grew despite declining sales of its lead drug, Eylea. REGN’s top-line growth is being driven by the strong performance of Eylea HD in the United States, along with global sales of Dupixent and Libtayo. Partnered drug Dupixent maintains momentum, driven by growing demand in the approved indications.Consistent label expansion of the drug in other indications has fueled REGN’s sales. Consistent label expansion of the oncology drug Libtayo has strengthened its oncology portfolio. This portfolio also received a boost in 2025 with the FDA approval of Lynozyfic for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4.9% and -0.4%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.8% over the last 30 days. REGN has a beta of 0.39 and a current dividend yield of 0.5%. It has an ROE of 13.8% compared with the industry’s ROE of -65.41% and the S&P 500’s ROE of 17%.Johnson & JohnsonJohnson & Johnson boasts a major MedTech division (Johnson & Johnson MedTech) focused on medical devices and diagnostics. JNJ applies AI technologies for surgical robotics, digital surgery analytics and imaging. The company has developed an AI-enabled ecosystem called Ottava — its next-generation robotic surgery platform.JNJ has also developed the Caresurgical/VELYS digital surgery systems, which use data and AI for procedure planning. Its Polyphonic Digital Ecosystem connects operating rooms, allowing surgeons to share live video and data with remote peers. AI in this system helps identify significant events in the surgery video feed for discussion.Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) Johnson & Johnson has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5% and 5.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days. JNJ has a beta of 0.34 and a current dividend yield of 2.5%. It has an ROE of 32.7% compared with the industry’s ROE of 37% and the S&P 500’s ROE of 17%.Free: Instant Access to Zacks' Market-Crushing StrategiesSince 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. 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(REGN): Free Stock Analysis Report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Free Stock Analysis Report Eli Lilly and Company (LLY): Free Stock Analysis Report Medtronic PLC (MDT): Free Stock Analysis Report Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks