Yililai The highest estimates for first-quarter revenue and earnings were the demand for weight loss and surge in diabetes medications, but its full-year earnings guidance was lowered due to the expenses associated with the recent cancer treatment agreement.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects its adjusted fiscal 2025 earnings between $20.78 and $22.28 per share, down from previous guidance of $22.50 to $24 per share. Eli Lilly said the revision reflected the $1.57 billion transaction allegations recorded in the first quarter, which was mainly related to obtaining a certain oral cancer drug from the scorpion treatment.
The company maintained its sales guidance for fiscal 2025 at $58 billion to $61 billion. Eli Lilly said the guide reflects current taxes by President Donald Trump as of May 1, but does not include taxes on drugs he plans to import in the United States
In an interview with CNBC, Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said the company and other drugmakers have announced investments in U.S. manufacturing, one of the Trump administration’s stated tariff targets.
"I think the threat of tariffs has actually brought critical supply chains into important industries, chips and pharmacies," Ricks said. "Then we need to enact (tax?) I'm not sure."
He added that Eli Lilly wants to see the U.S. permanently lower tax rates, especially 15% of domestic production. Ricks said lower taxes drive many drugmakers to produce on “low tax islands like Singapore Ireland and Switzerland, which may come back if there is an economic momentum.”
Eli Lilly's blockbuster diabetes treatment Mounjaro's expectations for the first quarter exceeded expectations, with revenue of $3.84 billion. 113% higher than the same period a year ago.
The company's weight loss pill, Zepbough, also beat estimates, with sales of $2.31 billion in the quarter. This is more than the $517.4 million brought in the treatment that just entered the U.S. market a year ago.
According to StreetAccount estimates, analysts expect Mounjaro and Zepbough to generate $3.81 billion and $2.28 billion in sales, respectively.
Eli Lilly shares fell 4% on Thursday. After that CVS Health It said Thursday that its pharmacy welfare manager would do Novo Nordisk's Wegovy's preferred weight loss medication on its primary formula, not on Zepbound.
This is what Eli Lilly reported in the first quarter, according to LSEG's survey of analysts.
The company's first-quarter revenue was $12.73 billion, up 45% from the same period a year ago.
U.S. sales jumped 49% to $8.49 billion. Eli Lilly said this is due to a 57% increase in the number of Zepbough and Mounjaro (or the number of prescriptions or units sold). The company said that part was offset by lower drug prices.
The drug giant booked $2.76 billion in net revenue in the first quarter, or $3.06 per share. By comparison, net income a year ago was $2.24 billion, or $2.48.
Excluding one-time items related to intangible asset value and other adjustments, Eli Lilly earned $3.34 per share in the first quarter.
In the past year, demand in the United States has still outpaced Zepbough and Mounjaro's supply. Two so-called intestinal hypoglycagon treatments mimic certain intestinal hormones to suppress a person’s appetite and regulate their blood sugar.
The popularity of these injectable drugs forced Eli Lilly and his rival Novo Nordisk to invest billions in order to improve the manufacturing capacity of their treatments.
The effort seems to be paying off: In December, the Food and Drug Administration reiterated its decision to announce the U.S. decision to tirzaidipeptide (the active ingredient of Zepbough and Mounjaro). This decision effectively bans many more complex pharmacy marketing and sales of cheaper, unapproved tirzepatide versions.