(Reuters) -Eli Lilly 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 breeze past third-quarter earnings estimates.
Shares of the world’s largest healthcare firm by market capitalization jumped over 5% in premarket trading even as investors remain wary of drug price negotiations with the Trump administration.
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.
ZEPBOUND, MOUNJARO SALES TOP ESTIMATES
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks credited 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.
The beat-and-raise quarter “should dispel some GLP-1 market concerns and highlights the underlying strength of Lilly’s incretin portfolio,” said J.P.Morgan analyst Chris Schott.
Zepbound posted sales of $3.6 billion for the reported quarter. Analysts were expecting sales of $3.23 billion, per data compiled by LSEG. The company noted that higher demand in the quarter was partially offset by lower realized prices.
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.
Sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro came in at $6.5 billion, above analysts’ average expectation of $5.73 billion.
Rival Novo will report earnings on November 5. Its U.S.-listed shares were trading down 1.6%.
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.
Annual revenue is projected between $63 billion and $63.5 billion, versus earlier forecast of $60 billion to $62 billion.
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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