Elie Lilly on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat past estimates and boosted its full-year sales outlook by $2 billion, as demand for its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro rose again.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects its 2026 revenue to be between $82 billion and $85 billion, up from the $80 billion to $83 billion previously forecast.
Lilly also expects its full-year adjusted earnings to be between $35.50 and $37 per share. This compares to a previous outlook of $33.50 to $35 per share.
Resilient demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro helped fuel several strong quarters for Lilly despite falling U.S. drug prices.
Programming Note: David Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, will speak to CNBC Thursday after 7 a.m. ET. Watch live on CNBC TV or CNBC+.
Mounjaro’s global revenue increased 125% to $8.66 billion for the quarter, including $4.2 billion in U.S. sales. That beat the $7.26 billion in global sales analysts expected for the quarter, according to StreetAccount.
Zepbound, which entered the market about three years ago, reported $4.16 billion in U.S. revenue for the first quarter. This represents an 80% increase from the year-ago period, as demand for the drug also increased while realized prices fell. Analysts expected $4.04 billion in U.S. sales for Zepbound, according to StreetAccount.
Lilly is working to maintain its dominance in the booming GLP-1 drug market, with the company holding 60.1% of the U.S. market for obesity and diabetes drugs in the first quarter, according to an earnings presentation. Novo’s market share during the quarter was 39.4%.
Here’s what Eli Lilly reported for the first quarter versus what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $8.55 adjusted vs. $6.66 expected
- Income: $19.80 billion versus $17.62 billion expected
Lilly shares rose more than 5% Thursday in premarket trading.
The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $19.80 billion, up 56% from the same period last year.
In the United States, revenues rose 43% to $12.1 billion. Eli Lilly said this was due to a 49% increase in volume – or the number of prescriptions or units sold – for its products, primarily Mounjaro and Zepbound. That was partially offset by lower realized prices of Zepbound and another drug for psoriatic arthritis and other conditions, the company said.
The pharmaceutical giant reported net income of $7.40 billion, or $8.26 per share, for the first quarter. That compares to net income of $2.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items related to the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly reported earnings of $8.55 per share for the first quarter.
The company’s newly approved GLP-1 obesity pill, Foundayo, was launched in the second quarter, so its sales are not included in Thursday’s report.
Still, the pill’s rollout is likely to dominate discussions during Lilly’s first-quarter earnings conference call. Executives will likely face the question of whether Foundayo can achieve the same level of momentum as rival pill Wegovy from Novo Nordiskwhich benefits from three months in advance in the United States
It is too early to assess the performance of Lilly’s pill. But early prescribing data suggests its initial rollout has been “modest,” according to a note last week from David Risinger, an analyst at Leerink Partners.
In February, Lilly said it hoped to benefit from the launch of Foundayo, Medicare coverage of obesity drugs coming online later this year and continued global demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound. But the company also expects to face pricing pressures, driven by a drug pricing deal with President Donald Trump and lower spot prices for Zepbound, among other factors.
Still, Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said in an interview in late April that he expects lower prices to accelerate U.S. prescription volumes. It also estimated that global use of GLP-1 will increase from around 20 million patients at the end of last year to 30 million by the end of 2026.