Should I Buy ELAN? ELAN 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Elanco Animal Health Inc (ELAN) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Buy

Latest Price

25.200

1 Day change

3.66%

52 Week Range

25.630

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/04

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Buy now: trend structure is bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200) and Wall Street sentiment/targets have moved sharply higher.
Options positioning is strongly call-skewed (bullish) while the stock sits just above the pivot (~24.55), offering a clean near-term level to lean on.
Expectation: a push toward 25.08–25.40 near-term resistance, with analyst target cluster at 28–30 as the broader upside objective into/after earnings.

Technical Analysis

Trend: Bullish moving-average stack (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200) signals an established uptrend.
Momentum: MACD histogram is negative (-0.0703) and expanding lower, implying short-term momentum has cooled even as the broader trend remains up.
RSI(6) ~52.8: neutral, leaving room for a continuation move without being overbought.
Key levels: Pivot 24.551 (price 24.63 is slightly above), Support S1 24.024 / S2 23.698; Resistance R1 25.078 / R2 25.404.
Tactical read: constructive uptrend with a minor momentum dip—often a buyable pullback if price holds above ~24.55–24.02.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning/Sentiment: Put/Call ratios are very low (OI 0.23; Volume 0.32) → notably bullish skew (calls dominate).
Activity: Today’s option volume vs 30D average is elevated (1.54x), suggesting rising attention.
Volatility: 30D IV ~45.74 vs historical vol ~26 → options are pricing a larger-than-normal move (likely earnings-related), while IV percentile ~55 is mid-high (not extreme).
Interpretation: bullish sentiment, but with meaningful implied move expectations into the next catalyst window.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Earnings catalyst ahead: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-24 (pre-market), with EPS estimate ~0.11—potential confirmation of operational improvements.
- Pattern-based odds (provided): 60% probability skew to gains over 1D/1W/1M with estimated upside ranges (to ~2.77% next day, ~6.25% next week, ~8.66% next month).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Short-term momentum is weakening: MACD histogram below zero and deteriorating increases the chance of chop/pullback before the next leg up.
- Profitability still challenged: last reported quarter showed a net loss and negative EPS despite revenue growth.
- No supportive news flow in the last week (no fresh catalysts beyond upcoming earnings and analyst notes).
- Trading flows: hedge funds and insiders are reported Neutral (no strong “smart money” confirmation in the provided data).

Financial Performance

Latest quarter provided: 2025/Q3.
Revenue: $1.137B, up +10.39% YoY (solid top-line growth).
Profitability: Net income -$34M (down -109.34% YoY) and EPS -0.07 (down -109.59% YoY) → growth is not yet translating into earnings.
Margins: Gross margin 41.07%, up +4.45% YoY → improving unit economics is a clear positive trend.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: strong positive inflection—multiple price target raises and a notable upgrade.
Key changes: Piper Sandler upgraded to Overweight (PT raised to $30 from $24); UBS raised PT to $30; BofA raised PT to $28; Barclays initiated Overweight with $30; KeyBanc initiated Overweight with $27.
Wall Street pros view: improving execution, new corporate-channel traction, pricing power (core franchise), product launches supporting growth, and expected de-leveraging.
Wall Street cons view (implied/earlier caution): expectations getting “lofty” after good results; some skepticism remains (e.g., MS Equal Weight, earlier Piper Neutral), and displacement/competition risk acknowledged in initiation notes.
Influential/political trading: no recent congress trading data available; insiders reported Neutral with no significant recent trend.

11 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast ELAN stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for ELAN is 25.5 USD with a low forecast of 22 USD and a high forecast of 30 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

9 Buy

2 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 24.310

Low

Averages

25.5

High

Current: 24.310

Low

Averages

25.5

High

BofA

Buy

upgrade

$25 -> $28

AI Analysis

2026-01-30

Reason

BofA

Price Target

$25 -> $28

AI Analysis

2026-01-30

upgrade

Buy

Reason

BofA raised the firm's price target on Elanco to $28 from $25 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm raised its price target heading into Q4 earnings season to reflect stronger operational results and execution, the analyst tells investors.

UBS

Buy

maintain

$27 -> $30

2026-01-29

Reason

UBS

Price Target

$27 -> $30

2026-01-29

maintain

Buy

Reason

UBS raised the firm's price target on Elanco to $30 from $27 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares.

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ELAN Should I Buy

ELAN Should I Buy

Should You Buy Elanco Animal Health Inc (ELAN) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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