Oct 30 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly (LLY.N) raised its full-year profit and revenue forecasts on Thursday as strong appetite for its widely popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro helped it blow past third-quarter earnings estimates.
Shares of the company, the world’s largest healthcare firm by market capitalization, jumped 7% in premarket trading.
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Investors were keenly awaiting latest results from the drugmaker amid sky-high expectations for its GLP-1 portfolio and growing concern over potential U.S. price negotiations.
Lilly competes with Novo Nordisk for the top spot in the weight-loss drug market, which is poised to reach $150 billion by the end of the decade.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has been striving to narrow the gap between U.S. and foreign drug prices.
Under its “most favored nation” policy, the U.S. government will require drugmakers to charge patients in the country no more than in other wealthy nations.
CEO Dave Ricks cited the continued demand for the incretin portfolio for the company’s strong performance. Incretin drugs are a class of medications that mimic the action of natural hormones to improve blood sugar control.
ZEPBOUND SALES TOP ESTIMATES
Zepbound posted sales of $3.6 billion for the reported quarter. Analysts were expecting sales of $3.23 billion, per data compiled by LSEG.
Approved in late 2023, Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound has quickly gained traction, with prescriptions now largely outpacing Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, despite the latter’s earlier launch by over two years.
Both drugs have seen surging demand as millions seek effective weight-loss treatments.
Rival Novo will report earnings on November 5. Its U.S.-listed shares were trading down 1.4%.
Lilly said it expects to earn $23.00 to $23.70 per share on an adjusted basis this year, compared with its previous forecast for a profit of $21.75 to $23.00 per share.
Analysts were expecting a profit of $22.18 per share for 2025.
For the quarter, the company earned $7.02 per share on an adjusted basis, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $5.69, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
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