RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Eli Lilly on Wednesday reported second-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 surged again.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects 2026 revenue to come in between $85 billion and $87 billion, up from a previous guidance of $82 billion to $85 billion.
Lilly projects its full-year adjusted profit to be between $35.50 and $36.50 per share, which compares with a previous outlook of $35.50 to $37 per share. The company said it raised the underlying profit guidance by $2.78 per share at the midpoint, but noted that it is offset by $3.03 per share in charges tied to deals in the quarter.
Fueled by a massive financial windfall from its obesity and diabetes drugs, Lilly is executing a historic M&A spending spree. The company most recently struck a deal to buy a psychedelics drugmaker in July, and also announced plans to buy three vaccine makers in May.
Resilient demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro has helped fuel several strong quarters for Lilly despite lower prices for the medications in the U.S.
Mounjaro's worldwide revenue rose 91% to $9.94 billion for the quarter, including U.S. sales of $4.8 billion. That surpassed the $8.99 billion in worldwide sales and $4.44 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 172%.
Zepbound, which entered the market roughly three years ago, posted $4.93 billion in U.S. revenue for the second quarter. That's up 44% from the year-earlier period, as demand for the drug also rose while realized prices dropped, in part due to previously announced cash-pay discounts. Analysts were expecting $4.69 billion in U.S. sales for Zepbound, according to StreetAccount.
Lilly's newly launched obesity pill, Foundayo, which won U.S. approval in April, took in $98 million in sales for the second quarter. Analyst estimates compiled by FactSet as of Wednesday forecasted nearly $103 million in sales.
It marks the first earnings report that includes revenue from the GLP-1 pill, which is competing head-to-head with a rival oral drug from Novo Nordisk that rolled out a few months ahead.
Here's what Eli Lilly reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Revenue in the U.S. climbed 33% to $14.4 billion. Lilly said it saw a 37% 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 those same medications.
Notably, revenue outside the U.S. jumped 80% to $8.6 billion, propelled by a 113% surge in volume and partly offset by a 36% drop in realized prices. Lower prices largely came from Mounjaro's addition to China's state-run health insurance coverage for Type 2 diabetes.
The pharmaceutical giant booked net income of $7.10 billion, or $7.94 per share, for the second quarter, which includes the $3.03 per share deal charges. That compares with net income of $5.66 billion, or $6.29 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items associated with the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly posted earnings of $8.38 per share for the second quarter.
Eli 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 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.
Both Lilly and Novo are expected to benefit from Medicare's new coverage of obesity drugs, which launched in early July, in the back half of the year.
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