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- This Blockbuster Weight-Loss Drug Just Got A Wider Runway
This Blockbuster Weight-Loss Drug Just Got A Wider Runway
A new retail partnership is widening access to one of the most sought-after treatments in healthcare.
Easier distribution and improved convenience are reinforcing confidence in sustained demand and long-term growth.
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Pharmaceuticals
Eli Lilly Eyes Its Next Monster Market
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) is pushing deeper into its next growth chapter, holding advanced talks to acquire Ventyx Biosciences in a deal valued at around $1 billion. This is not about chasing headlines. It is Lilly expanding the map of what it wants to own after reshaping diabetes and obesity.
At the center of interest is Ventyx’s work on the NLRP3 inflammasome, a biological switch linked to inflammation across autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular risk, metabolic disorders, and more. If you are thinking long term, this is the kind of pathway that can support multiple drugs, not just one launch.
The Next Battlefield
Inflammation is quietly becoming one of the most important frontiers in medicine. It sits underneath obesity complications, heart disease, neurodegeneration, and immune disorders.
By targeting it early, Lilly is not betting on a single indication. It is building optionality across entire disease categories, and that kind of platform thinking is how leadership compounds.
Moving Before Prices Explode
Competitors are circling the same biology, and valuations are rising. Lilly moving now is about timing, not urgency. If this deal closes, it strengthens pipeline depth without distracting execution.
More importantly, it reinforces a pattern. Lilly uses its balance sheet to secure tomorrow’s growth before everyone agrees it is obvious. This is what conviction looks like when you understand how pharma winners are built.
LLY currently trades at $1,092 and pays a dividend of $6.92 per share, a yield of 0.63%.
Payments
JPMorgan Just Pulled Off a Power Grab in Consumer Finance
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) has struck a landmark deal to take over the Apple Card, replacing Goldman Sachs and reshaping the U.S. credit card landscape in one move. This is not a portfolio swap. It is JPMorgan absorbing one of the most visible consumer finance products of the last decade and putting it inside a machine built for scale.
Once the transition is complete, more than $20 billion in Apple Card balances are expected to move onto Chase’s platform. That instantly expands JPMorgan’s reach among digital-first consumers who live inside mobile wallets and frictionless payments, and if you follow consumer finance, you know how hard that audience is to win.
Chase Gets the Front Seat
For JPMorgan, this move strengthens its dominance in co-branded cards and ties it closer to Apple’s ecosystem. Payment behavior, spending data, and loyalty all deepen when credit lives inside a phone.
A Signal to the Whole Industry
This deal highlights a reset across consumer finance. Tech brands want bank partners that can last. Banks with infrastructure win.
Subject to approvals, the transition will take time, but the direction is locked. JPMorgan is positioning itself as the default utility bank for the next generation, and what you see is leadership quietly compounding in plain sight.
JPM currently trades at $331 and pays a dividend of $6.00 per share, a yield of 1.81%.
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Beverages
A Beer Giant Adjusts to a New Reality
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) is running into a real shift in the U.S. beer market, and this one is coming from the ground up. Demand is softening, and not just randomly. The slowdown is hitting the exact consumer base that powered years of growth for brands like Modelo and Corona.
Economic pressure is showing up where it hurts most. Hispanic consumers, a core driver of Constellation’s beer success, are feeling the squeeze as jobs cool in construction, agriculture, and other physical sectors. When work slows, spending habits change fast, and beer volumes tend to follow.
Modelo Tries a New Door
Constellation is not sitting still. The company plans to launch a nonalcoholic Modelo, leaning into moderation instead of waiting for volume to snap back.
That move matters because drinkers are not abandoning brands; they are changing how they consume. Offering a zero-alcohol option keeps Modelo in the rotation even when habits shift.
Brand Power Gets Tested Now
The next phase is about balance. Constellation must manage near-term beer pressure while building relevance in new formats.
If the pivot works, the brands stay strong even as behavior changes. If not, volume headwinds linger. Either way, what matters to you is clear. The U.S. beer market is evolving, and Constellation is adapting in real time.
STZ currently trades at $147 and pays a dividend of $4.08 per share, a yield of 2.77%.
Dividend Stocks Worth Watching
Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has overtaken Apple to become the world’s second-most valuable company, underscoring the market's growing conviction in its artificial intelligence strategy. Shares have been buoyed by strong momentum across cloud computing, search, and AI-driven products, as investors reward companies seen as direct beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle.
The shift highlights how quickly market leadership is evolving as capital flows toward firms with clear AI monetisation paths. For investors, Alphabet's rise reflects confidence in its ability to translate scale, data, and infrastructure into sustained earnings growth, even as competition at the top of the tech sector intensifies.
GOOGL pays a 21-cent dividend.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will introduce a new off-road, hands-free driving capability in its electric vehicles by 2028. The move builds on Ford’s existing driver-assist systems and signals a more measured approach to autonomy, prioritising practical, real-world use cases over fully self-driving ambitions.
The strategy reflects Ford’s focus on adding high-value features that can enhance margins and customer appeal without the heavy costs and risks tied to full autonomy. For investors, it highlights how the company is selectively investing in technology that supports long-term competitiveness while maintaining discipline around cash flow and returns.
F pays a 15-cent dividend, yielding 4.23%.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) has gained fresh distribution momentum after Amazon said it will begin offering its Wegovy weight-loss treatment through Amazon Pharmacy. The move gives eligible US customers easier access to the blockbuster GLP-1 drug, with insured patients able to pay as little as $25 per month and cash prices starting at $149.00.
The announcement comes just days after the company rolled out its first-ever GLP-1 pill in the US, widening its obesity treatment portfolio. For investors, the Amazon partnership highlights how expanded digital distribution and pricing flexibility could accelerate adoption, reinforcing the long-term growth potential of Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 franchise.
NVO pays a 30-cent semiannual dividend, yielding 1.98%.
Dividend Increases
OTTR has raised its dividend to 58 cents, up 10.00%. Its new yield is 2.75%.
EPD has boosted its dividend to 55 cents, a growth of 0.92%. Its new yield is 6.9%.
SNX has lifted its dividend to 48 cents, an increase of 9.09%. Its new yield is 1.3%.
Dividend Decreases
CALM has cut its dividend to 72 cents, a 47.45 % decrease. Its new yield is 3.7%.
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When something costs more than expected, you usually… |
Upcoming Dividend Payers
RCL’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming $1.00 payment is 01/14/26.
PM’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming $1.47 payment is 01/14/26.
DIS’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 75-cent payment is 01/15/26.
O’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 27-cent payment is 01/15/26.
Everything Else
Chevron is one of several oil stocks popping this week as the situation in Venezuela continues to develop, with one analyst forecasting a $700 million annual boost.
JPMorgan Chase has replaced Goldman Sachs as the issuer of the Apple Credit Card, after the latter bowed out and closed a seven-year tenure. JPMorgan is set to acquire approximately $20 billion in card balances as part of the deal.
Constellation Brands says it expects sales to be weaker as Latin American consumers change their consumption habits. Constellation is the name behind popular beers such as Corona and Modelo Especial.
Jeep and Chrysler plug-in hybrids are no more in the US. Car maker Stellantis has axed its plug-in hybrid vehicles in North America due to quality issues and weakening EV demand.
That’s all for today’s edition of the Dividend Brief.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any feedback or dividend stocks you want me to take a look at, just reply to this email!
—Noah Zelvis
DividendBrief.com