The Eli Lilly and Company logo is displayed during a press conference in Houston, Texas, the United States, September 23, 2025.
Antranik Tavitien | Reuters
Elie Lilly on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue and 2026 guidance that beat past estimates, as demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro soars.
The pharmaceutical giant expects its 2026 revenue to be between $80 billion and $83 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $77.62 billion, according to LSEG.
Lilly also expects adjusted earnings to be between $33.50 and $35 per share for the year. That compares to analysts’ estimate of $33.23 per share, according to LSEG.
The results come after rival Novo Nordisk warned on Tuesday that it is seeing sales and profits decline this year as prices fall in the United States and exclusivity expires for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs in China, Brazil and Canada.
Lilly is struggling to maintain its dominance in the booming market for the drugs, called GLP-1, as Novo plans an explosive U.S. launch for its new obesity pill Wegovy. Lilly hopes to get approval for its own oral weight-loss drug, forglipron, later this year.
Here’s what the company reported for the fourth quarter compared to what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $7.54 adjusted vs. $6.67 expected
- Income: $19.29 billion versus $17.96 billion expected
The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $19.29 billion, up 43% from the same period last year.
In the United States, revenues reached $12.9 billion. Eli Lilly said this was due to a 50% increase in volume – or the number of prescriptions or units sold – for its products, primarily Mounjaro and Zepbound. This was partially offset by lower realized prices of these drugs, the company said.
The pharmaceutical giant reported fourth-quarter net income of $6.64 billion, or $7.39 per share. That compares to net income of $4.41 billion, or $4.88 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items related to the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly reported earnings of $7.54 per share for the fourth quarter.
Novo and Lilly announced historic deals in November with President Donald Trump to cut prices on their top-selling obesity and diabetes drugs, which are expected to ultimately increase the number of prescriptions but ultimately hurt total sales.
Under the agreements, Lilly and Novo agreed to reduce the prices of these treatments for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in 2026 and offer them directly to consumers at a discount on the Trump administration’s direct-to-consumer platform, TrumpRx, which has not yet launched.
In exchange, the two companies will also benefit from a three-year tariff exemption.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC on Friday, Lilly CEO Dave Ricks acknowledged that under the drug pricing deal there would be “a drop in prices” early this year. But he said the company’s drug volume growth “will accelerate in the second half.”