Eli Lilly The company reported first-quarter profits and sales on Thursday that beat expectations as demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes drug Munjaro surged again, prompting it to raise its full-year sales outlook by $2 billion.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects sales to be between $82 billion and $85 billion in 2026, up from its previous forecast of $80 billion to $83 billion.
Lilly also expects full-year adjusted earnings to be between $35.50 and $37 per share. This compares to previous guidance of $33.50 to $35 per share.
Strong demand for Zepbound and Munjaro fueled several quarters of strong growth for Lilly despite lower drug prices in the U.S.
David Rix, CEO of Eli Lilly & Company, attends the Semaphore Global Economic Summit held during the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Friday, April 17, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mounjaro’s worldwide sales for the quarter increased 125% to $8.66 billion, of which $4.2 billion came from the United States. That beat analysts’ expectations for global sales of $7.26 billion for the quarter, according to Street Accounts.
Zepbound, which entered the market about three years ago, posted $4.16 billion in revenue in the U.S. in the first quarter. This was an 80% increase compared to the same period last year as realized prices fell while demand for the drug also increased. Analysts had expected Zepbound’s U.S. sales to be $4.04 billion, according to StreetAccount.
According to the company’s financial results, Lilly is striving to maintain its dominance in the rapidly growing GLP-1 drug market, and in the first quarter it captured a 60.1% share of the U.S. obesity and diabetes drug market. Novo’s market share for the quarter was 39.4%.
Here’s how Eli Lilly reported in the first quarter compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG.
Earnings per share: $8.55 adjusted vs. $6.66 expected Revenue: $19.8 billion vs. $17.62 billion expected
Lilly’s stock rose more than 7% in premarket trading Thursday.
The company’s fourth quarter sales were $19.8 billion, an increase of 56% from the same period last year.
U.S. sales increased 43% to $12.1 billion. Eli Lilly said the increase was primarily due to a 49% increase in product volumes for Mounjaro and Zepbound, including prescriptions and units sold. This was partially offset by lower realized prices for Zepbound and another treatment for psoriatic arthritis and other conditions, the company said.
The pharmaceutical giant posted net income of $7.4 billion, or $8.26 per share, in the first quarter. Net income for the same period last year was $2.76 billion, or $3.06 per share.
Excluding one-time items related to the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly’s first-quarter earnings were $8.55 per share.
Sales of the company’s newly approved obesity treatment GLP-1 pill, Foundayo, were launched in the second quarter, so sales are not included in Thursday’s report.
Still, the drug’s development is likely to be the center of discussion during Lilly’s first-quarter earnings call. Management will be faced with the question of whether Foundayo can reach the same level of momentum as rival Wegoby. novo nordiskbenefited from a three-month head start in the US
In an exclusive interview with CNBC on Thursday, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said more than 20,000 people started taking Foundayo in the first few weeks on the market. More than 1,000 people per day are starting the drug, he added.
He said 80% of patients taking the drug are taking GLP-1 for the first time.
It is too early to evaluate the performance of Lilly’s tablets. But early prescribing data suggests its initial rollout has been “modest,” according to a note from Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger last week.
Lilly said in February that it expected to benefit from the launch of Foundayo, Medicare coverage for the obesity drug starting later this year, and continued global demand for Munjaro and Zepbound. However, the company also expects to face pricing pressure from factors such as its drug pricing agreement with President Donald Trump and a reduction in Zepbound’s cash payment price.
Still, Ricks said in a late April interview that he expects lower prices to accelerate prescribing volumes in the U.S., and that he expects the number of patients using GLP-1 worldwide to rise to 30 million by the end of 2026, up from about 20 million at the end of last year.
—CNBC’s Angelica Peebles contributed to this report
