Eli Lilly's second-quarter earnings and revenue blew past Wall Street's estimates as sales of its Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs kept surging, prompting the company to raise its full-year revenue guidance. Shares jumped more than 4% Wednesday, in the first quarterly report to include sales from Lilly's newly launched obesity pill, Foundayo.
Eli Lilly posted adjusted earnings of $8.38 per share on $22.97 billion in revenue for the second quarter, topping Wall Street's forecasts of $6.01 per share and $20.73 billion. The stock surged more than 4% to 1,162.20 in morning trading, retaking its 50-day line and pushing back into the chase zone despite falling on Monday.
Mounjaro and Zepbound keep surging
Mounjaro, Lilly's tirzepatide-based diabetes treatment, generated $9.94 billion in worldwide sales, a 91% jump that beat analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Sales outside the U.S. climbed 172%, with Ricks saying most patients in large middle-income countries such as Brazil, China and India are paying out of pocket for the drug.
Zepbound, the obesity treatment, posted $4.93 billion in revenue, up 46% from a year earlier even as realized prices fell on cash-pay discounts. Lilly held 60.9% of the U.S. obesity and diabetes drug market in the quarter, against 38.8% for Novo Nordisk.
Lilly raises full-year guidance
Lilly now expects 2026 revenue of $85 billion to $87 billion, up from a prior range of $82 billion to $85 billion. Adjusted profit guidance moved to $35.50 to $36.50 per share; the company said it raised underlying profit guidance by $2.78 per share at the midpoint, but $3.03 per share in deal-related charges offset that gain. Lilly is funding a wave of acquisitions with its obesity-drug windfall, having struck a deal to buy a psychedelics drugmaker in July after agreeing to purchase three vaccine makers in May.
Foundayo's first quarter falls short
Foundayo, the obesity pill that won U.S. approval in April, brought in $98 million in sales. That came in below analyst estimates of nearly $103 million. According to CNBC: "We're really pleased with the start; it's accelerating as we speak," Ricks said, as Foundayo prescriptions doubled in a month. Foundayo is competing head-to-head with a rival oral GLP-1 pill from Novo Nordisk that reached the market a few months earlier, though Ricks said the oral category is expanding the market rather than cannibalizing Zepbound.
Both companies are also positioned to benefit from Medicare's new coverage of obesity drugs, which launched in early July with a $50 monthly copay for eligible seniors. Ricks said the rollout has gotten off to a strong start.
Sources: US Top News and Analysis, Investor's Business Daily
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