Eli Lilly (LLY) first quarter 2024 results

Elie Lilly on Tuesday reported adjusted first-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations and raised its full-year forecast due to strong sales of its blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro and loss treatment of weight recently launched Zepbound.

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

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

The results and higher guidance reflect Zepbound’s first full quarter in the U.S. market after winning approval from regulators in early November. The drug reported first-quarter revenue of $517.4 million, even as most doses of the drug experienced shortages in the United States that are expected to last through June.

Analysts estimate the weekly injection could generate more than $1 billion in sales in its first year on the market and potentially become the most important drug of all time.

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

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

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

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

In February, Eli Lilly said it expects revenue growth to accelerate in the second half, which will be consistent with the increased availability of incretin drug doses. Incretin medications are treatments such as Mounjaro and Zepbound, which mimic hormones produced in the gut to suppress a person’s appetite and regulate their blood sugar.

Shares of Eli Lilly jumped nearly 8% in pre-market trading Tuesday. They are up 26% this year after surging nearly 60% in 2023 due to insatiable demand for the company’s weight loss and diabetes drugs. This is despite their high prices, spotty insurance coverage, and intermittent supply shortages.

With a market capitalization of approximately $700 billion, Eli Lilly is the largest pharmaceutical company based in the United States.

The company’s two best-selling diabetes drugs fell short of Wall Street’s expectations for the first quarter.

Mounjaro generated $1.81 billion in revenue in the first quarter, more than triple the $568.5 million recorded in the year-ago period. However, analysts were expecting revenue of $2.11 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Eli Lilly said rising prices for Mounjaro helped boost revenue, specifically citing the decreased use of savings card programs for the drug in the United States.

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

Meanwhile, sales of Trulicity, an older diabetes drug from Eli Lilly, fell 26% in the first quarter, to $1.46 billion. That’s lower than the $1.59 billion analysts expected, according to StreetAccount.

In the United States, the decline in sales was mainly due to supply constraints and competition with other diabetes treatments, according to Eli Lilly. Revenue outside the United States also declined, due to lower demand and realized prices, as well as restricted supply.

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