Eli Lilly on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that blew past estimates and hiked its full-year sales outlook, as demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro soared again.
Despite that strength, sales of its new GLP-1 obesity pill Foundayo, which launched in the U.S. in April, were under Wall Street's expectations for the quarter.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects 2026 revenue to come in between $91 billion and $92 billion, up from a previous guidance of $85 billion to $87 billion.
Lilly projects its full-year adjusted earnings will be between $35 and $36 per share, which compares with a previous outlook of $35.50 to $36.50 per share. The company said it raised the underlying profit guidance by $4.07 per share at the midpoint, but noted that it is offset by $4.57 per share in charges tied to deals in the quarter.
The company's shares rose about 7% on Thursday.
Lilly's massive diabetes and obesity windfall – and market share lead over chief rival Novo – shows no signs of slowing down, even as the company grapples with lower net prices in the U.S. The pharma giant is converting its massive profits into a deal-making spree, most recently striking an agreement to buy Merida Biosciences to develop a new class of treatments for serious autoimmune and allergic diseases.
Here's what Eli Lilly reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $7.48 adjusted vs. $6.26 expected
- Revenue: $24.40 billion vs. $22.61 billion expected
Resilient demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro has helped fuel several strong quarters for Lilly despite lower prices for the medications in the U.S., which came after a drug pricing deal struck with the Trump administration last year. In a release, Lilly also pointed to expanded U.S. coverage for obesity care, referring to Medicare's decision to start covering GLP-1s for weight loss in July under a temporary pilot program.
"This is a program that's really working," Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "We're pleased with the early uptake and access, and I think doctors and patients are as well."
Mounjaro's worldwide revenue rose 65% to $10.72 billion for the quarter, including U.S. sales of about $5 billion. That surpassed the $10.10 billion in worldwide sales and $4.79 billion in U.S. revenue that analysts were expecting for the quarter, according to StreetAccount.
Mounjaro notably saw strength internationally, with sales outside the U.S. jumping 93%.
Zepbound, which entered the market roughly three years ago, posted $5.35 billion in revenue for the third quarter. That's up 49% from the year-earlier period, as demand for the drug also rose while realized prices dropped. The vast majority of those sales came from the U.S.
Analysts were expecting $5.09 billion in global sales for Zepbound, including $4.99 billion from the U.S., according to StreetAccount.
Lilly's newly launched obesity pill, Foundayo, which won U.S. approval in April, took in $184 million in sales for the third quarter. That fell under analyst forecasts of around $229 million in sales, StreetAccount estimates showed.
It marks the second earnings report that includes revenue from the GLP-1 pill, which is competing head-to-head with a rival oral drug from Novo that launched in January.
Total U.S. prescriptions for Foundayo and the number of new Foundayo patients in the third quarter doubled from the previous quarter, Lilly CFO Lucas Montarces said during a Thursday earnings call. Around 4 in 10 patients starting an oral obesity medicine choose Foundayo, he added.
Lilly expects Foundayo to win U.S. approval for Type 2 diabetes in the fourth quarter.
Lilly is working to maintain its dominance in the booming market for GLP-1 drugs, with the company holding 63% share of the U.S. obesity and diabetes drug market in the third quarter, according to an earnings presentation on Thursday. Novo's market share in the quarter was 36.6%.
During the earnings call, Montarces said 7 out of 10 U.S. prescriptions for injectable obesity and diabetes drugs in the third quarter were for a Lilly medicine.
Ricks told CNBC that he estimates 3% to 10% of eligible patients access obesity care in the U.S., but said the "room for expansion here of this market is dramatic." Lilly is at the front of that push, he added.
Internationally, Lilly held 58.4% share of the market, while Novo had 41.6%, the presentation said.
Eli Lilly's revenue in the U.S. climbed 34% to $15.1 billion. Lilly said it saw a 41% increase in volume — or the number of prescriptions or units sold — for its products, primarily for Mounjaro and Zepbound. That was partially offset by a 7% decrease in realized prices, primarily driven by Zepbound.
Lilly's quarter was also boosted by a sales-based milestone payout of $410 million for its Type 2 diabetes medication Jardiance, related to the company's collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.
Sales outside the U.S. jumped 47% to $9.3 billion, propelled by a 76% surge in volume and partly offset by a 29% drop in realized prices.
The pharmaceutical giant booked net income of $6.45 billion, or $7.22 per share, for the third quarter, which includes the $4.57 per share deal charges. That compares with net income of $5.58 billion, or $6.21 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items associated with the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly posted earnings of $7.48 per share for the third quarter.