Eli Lilly reported on Thursday Second quarter results and revenue exceeded all expectations, raising full-year revenue guidance by $3 billion as sales of the hit diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss injection Zepbound soared.
Eli Lilly shares rose greater than 10% in early trading Thursday.
The pharmaceutical manufacturer now expects sales of between $45.4 billion and $46.6 billion for the approaching 12 months, a rise of $3 billion at each end of the range.
The company also raised its adjusted annual earnings to $16.10 to $16.60, in comparison with a previous forecast of $13.50 to $14 per share.
Eli Lilly said the rise in guidance was primarily as a result of strong performance from Mounjaro and Zepbound and partly as a result of “improved clarity” regarding the corporate's manufacturing expansions and planned launch of Mounjaro outside the U.S. The company said it achieved several supply-related milestones in the course of the quarter, but didn’t provide specific details.
Demand far exceeds supply for incretin drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro. These drugs mimic hormones produced within the gut to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar. This has forced Eli Lilly and its rival Novo Nordisk to speculate massively to spice up production.
But Eli Lilly's supply shortages may steadily ease. On Friday, the drug database of the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that after an extended period of shortages, all doses of Zepbound and Mounjaro were available again within the USA.
However, the corporate cautioned that the expected increase in demand for certain doses of its incretin drugs may lead to temporary “supply shortages.”
“We're just seeing incredible demand and we're not even trying to promote this drug particularly heavily,” Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said in an interview with CNBC. “What you're seeing here is just organic consumer demand as we've shipped more product and brought more supply online in the United States.”
Ricks said the corporate has built six manufacturing plants, a few of that are already in operation, and hired hundreds of employees to extend production. Eli Lilly expects production of incretin drugs to be 50% higher within the second half of 2024 than in the identical period last 12 months, he noted.
“We're on track to do that until 2025,” he said. Ricks added that Eli Lilly remains to be developing more convenient weight-loss pills that might help the corporate meet rapidly increasing demand.
Here's what Eli Lilly reported for the second quarter and what Wall Street expected based on an analyst survey conducted by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: USD 3.92 adjusted versus USD 2.60 expected
- Revenue: 11.30 billion US dollars in comparison with expected 9.92 billion US dollars
The pharmaceutical giant posted net profit of $2.97 billion, or $3.28 per share, for the second quarter. In the identical period last 12 months, profit was $1.76 billion, or $1.95 per share.
Excluding one-time items related to the worth of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly reported earnings of $3.92 per share for the second quarter of 2024.
The company reported second-quarter revenue of $11.30 billion, up 36% from the identical period last 12 months.
According to Eli Lilly, sales were primarily as a result of increased demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound as production increases improved supply within the United States.
It is Zepbound's second full quarter within the U.S. market after receiving regulatory approval in November. The weekly money injection brought in revenue of $1.24 billion for the period, well above the $922.2 million expected by analysts, in keeping with StreetAccount.
Meanwhile, Mounjaro posted second-quarter revenue of $3.09 billion, greater than triple the revenue of the identical period last 12 months. Analysts had expected revenue of $2.39 billion, in keeping with StreetAccount.
Prices for Mounjaro were higher within the U.S. within the second quarter, partly as a result of increased access to the drug and lower use of savings card programs in comparison with the identical period last 12 months.
However, the corporate said savings cards are expected to have “only a minimal effect” on actual price comparisons within the second half of the 12 months since the $25 monthly coupon for patients without insurance coverage for Mounjaro expired in June.
Ricks said prices for Eli Lilly's incretin drugs were “fairly stable” within the second quarter.
The situation is different for Novo Nordisk, which on Wednesday reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales of its weight-loss drug Wegovy and the diabetes injection Ozempic, partly as a result of price pressure.
Wegovy's revenue was hit by higher-than-expected price concessions to U.S. pharmacy profit managers, who negotiate drug discounts with manufacturers on behalf of insurers, Novo Nordisk executives said Wednesday during a quarterly earnings conference call.
Eli Lilly shares have risen greater than 30% this 12 months after rising nearly 60% in 2023, because of rising demand for the corporate's weight-loss and diabetes drugs — and increased investor interest of their potential as treatments for other health conditions. That popularity comes despite their high monthly prices, inconsistent insurance coverage and intermittent supply shortages.
With a market capitalization of over $730 billion, Eli Lilly is the biggest pharmaceutical company based within the United States
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