Eli Lilly on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that blew past estimates and hiked its full-year sales outlook by $2 billion, as demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro spiked again.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects 2026 revenue to come in between $82 billion and $85 billion, up from a previous guidance of $80 billion to $83 billion.
Lilly also expects its full-year adjusted profit to be between $35.50 to $37 per share. That compares to a previous outlook of $33.50 to $35 per share.
Resilient demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro has helped fuel several strong quarters for Lilly despite lower prices for the medications in the U.S.
Programming note: Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks will speak to CNBC after 7 a.m. ET on Thursday. Watch live on CNBC TV or CNBC+.
Mounjaro’s worldwide revenue rose 125% to $8.66 billion for the quarter, including U.S. sales of $4.2 billion. That surpassed the $7.26 billion in worldwide sales that analysts were expecting for the quarter, according to StreetAccount.
Zepbound, which entered the market roughly three years ago, posted $4.16 billion in U.S. revenue for the first quarter. That’s up 80% from the year-earlier period, as demand for the drug also rose while realized prices dropped. Analysts were expecting $4.04 billion in U.S. sales for Zepbound, according to StreetAccount.
Lilly is working to maintain its dominance in the booming market for GLP-1 drugs, with the company holding 60.1% share of the U.S. obesity and diabetes drug market in the first quarter, according to an earnings presentation. Novo’s market share in the quarter was 39.4%.
Here’s what Eli Lilly reported for the first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $8.55 adjusted vs. $6.66 expected
- Revenue: $19.80 billion vs. $17.62 billion expected
Shares of Lilly rose more than 5% in premarket trading Thursday.
The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $19.80 billion, up 56% from the same period a year ago.
Revenue in the U.S. climbed 43% to $12.1 billion. Eli Lilly said that was driven by a 49% increase in volume — or the number of prescriptions or units sold — for its products, primarily for Mounjaro and Zepbound. That was partially offset by lower realized prices of Zepbound and another medication for psoriatic arthritis and other conditions, the company said.
The pharmaceutical giant booked net income of $7.40 billion, or $8.26 per share, for the first quarter. That compares with net income of $2.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items associated with the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly posted earnings of $8.55 per share for the first quarter.
The company’s newly approved GLP-1 pill for obesity, Foundayo, launched in the second quarter, so its sales are not included in Thursday’s report.
Still, the pill’s rollout is likely to dominate the discussion during Lilly’s first-quarter earnings call. Executives will likely face questions about whether Foundayo can reach the same level of momentum as the rival Wegovy pill from Novo Nordisk, which benefited from a three-month head start in the U.S.
It’s too soon to assess the performance of Lilly’s pill. But early prescription data suggest its initial rollout has been “modest,” according to a note last week from Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger.
In February, Lilly said it expects to benefit from Foundayo’s launch, Medicare coverage of obesity drugs coming online later this year and continued worldwide demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound. But the company also expects to face pricing pressure, driven by a drug pricing deal with President Donald Trump and lower cash-pay 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 prescription volumes in the U.S. He also estimated that global GLP-1 use will rise from approximately 20 million patients at the end of last year to 30 million at the end of 2026.