Eli Lilly beats on quarterly profit, hikes full-year guidance on strong sales of Zepbound, Mounjaro

Eli
Lilly
on
Tuesday
reported
first-quarter
adjusted
profit
that
topped
Wall
Street’s
expectations
and
hiked
its
full-year
guidance
on
strong
sales
of
its
blockbuster
diabetes
drug
Mounjaro
and
newly
launched
weight
loss
treatment
Zepbound.

The
drugmaker
now
expects
full-year
adjusted
earnings
of
$13.50
to
$14.00
per
share,
up
from
a
previous
guidance
of
$12.20
to
$12.70
per
share.
Eli
Lilly
also
expects
revenue
for
the
year
to
come
in
between
$42.4
billion
and
$43.6
billion,
an
increase
of
$2
billion
at
either
end
of
the
range.

Analysts
surveyed
by
LSEG
expected
full-year
adjusted
earnings
of
$12.50
per
share
and
sales
of
$41.44
billion. 

The
company
said
the
boosted
guidance
is
in
part
due
to “greater
visibility”
into
its
production
expansion
of
Zepbound,
Mounjaro
and
similar
drugs
for
the
rest
of
the
year.

The
results
and
guidance
raise
reflect
Zepbound’s
first
full
quarter
on
the
U.S.
market
after
winning
approval
from
regulators
in
early
November.
The
drug
reported
$517.4
million
in
sales
for
the
first
quarter,
even
as
most
doses
of
the
drug

slipped
into
shortages
in
the
U.S.
that
are
expected
to
last
through
June.

Analysts
say
the
weekly
injection
could
post
more
than
a
billion
dollars
in
sales
in
its
first
year
on
the
market
and
potentially
become
the

biggest
drug
of
all
time.

Eli
Lilly
noted
that
demand
for
Mounjaro
and
Zepbound
—
treatments
known
as
incretin
drugs,
which
mimic
hormones
produced
in
the
gut
to
suppress
a
person’s
appetite
and
regulate
their
blood
sugar
—
outpaced
increases
in
supply
during
the
quarter.

The
company
said
it
is
continuing
to
expand
its
manufacturing
footprint,
with
the
most
significant
production
increases
expected
in
the
second
half
of
the
year.

“Our
top
priority
is
making
more
product,
and
we’re
doing
everything
we
can
to
do
that,”
Eli
Lilly
CEO
David
Ricks
said
in
an
interview
on
CNBC’s “Squawk
Box.” “We’re
ramping
that
aggressively.
But
it’s
capital
intensive,
it’s
technically
complex
and
highly
regulated.”

Ricks
added
that
Mounjaro
and
Zepbound
are
among
the “most
complicated
medicines
we’ve
ever
made.”

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:
  $2.58
  adjusted
  vs.
  $2.46
  expected
• 
  Revenue:
  $8.77
  billion
  vs.
  $8.92
  billion
  expected

Eli
Lilly
posted
a
net
income
of
$2.24
billion,
or
$2.48
a
share,
for
the
first
quarter.
That
compares
with
a
profit
of
$1.34
billion,
or
$1.49
a
share,
a
year
earlier. 

Excluding
one-time
items
associated
with
the
value
of
intangible
assets,
among
other
adjustments,
the
company
posted
a
per-share
profit
of
$2.58
for
the
first
quarter
of
2024.

The
pharmaceutical
giant
booked
first-quarter
revenue
of
$8.77
billion,
up
26%
year
over
year.

Shares
of
Eli
Lilly
jumped
almost
7%
in
premarket
trading
Tuesday.
They’re
up
26%
this
year
after
jumping
almost
60%
in
2023
due
to
the
insatiable
demand
for
the
company’s
weight
loss
and
diabetes
drugs.
That’s
despite
their

hefty
price
tags,
spotty

insurance
coverage
and
intermittent
supply
shortages. 

With
a
market
cap
of
about
$700
billion,
Eli
Lilly
is
the
largest
pharmaceutical
company
based
in
the
U.S. 

Both
of
the
company’s
top-selling
diabetes
drugs
missed
Wall
Street’s
expectations
for
the
first
quarter.

Mounjaro
brought
in
$1.81
billion
in
revenue
in
the
first
quarter,
more
than
triple
the
$568.5
million
it
booked
during
the
year-earlier
period.
However,
analysts
were
expecting
sales
of
$2.11
billion,
according
to
StreetAccount. 

Eli
Lilly
said
higher
prices
for
Mounjaro
helped
drive
up
revenue,
specifically
citing
decreased
use
of
savings
card
programs
for
the
drug
in
the
U.S.

But
the
company
said
those
savings
card
dynamics
should “cease
to
have
a
notable
effect
on
realized
price
comparisons”
because
the
$25
monthly
coupon
for
patients
who
don’t
have
insurance
coverage
for
Mounjaro
expired
in
June. 

Meanwhile,
sales
of
Eli
Lilly’s
older
diabetes
drug
Trulicity
plummeted
26%
during
the
first
quarter
to
$1.46
billion.
That’s
lower
than
the
$1.59
billion
that
analysts
were
expecting,
according
to
StreetAccount. 

In
the
U.S.,
declining
sales
were
primarily
due
to
supply
constraints
and
competition
with
other
diabetes
treatments,
according
to
Eli
Lilly.
Revenue
outside
the
U.S.
also
decreased,
driven
by
lower
demand
and
realized
prices,
as
well
as
tight
supply.

Revenue
growth
was
also
driven
by
sales
of
Eli
Lilly’s
breast
cancer
pill
Verzenio,
which
rose
40%
to
$1.05
billion
for
the
quarter
due
to
increased
demand. 

Those
results
came
in
under
analysts’
expectations,
however,
which
called
for
$1.11
billion
in
sales
for
the
period. 

Sales
of
Jardiance,
a
tablet
that
lowers
blood
sugar
in
Type
2
diabetes
patients,
climbed
19%
to
$686.5
million
for
the
first
quarter.
Analysts
had
expected
$718.3
million
in
sales
from
Jardiance. 

Jardiance,
which
Eli
Lilly
shares
with
Boehringer
Ingelheim,
is
among
the
first
10
drugs
selected
to
face
price
negotiations
with
the
federal
Medicare
program.