Eli Lilly Shares Jump as Mounjaro, Zepbound Fuel Massive Growth

Eli Lilly reported booming sales of weight-loss shots, driving strong Q1 revenue and profit growth, and raised its 2026 forecast. Booming sales of weight-loss shots fueled strong revenue and profit growth for Eli Lilly LLY -2.61%decrease; red down pointing triangle in the latest quarter, as robust consumer demand helped offset falling prices for the drugs. The results blew past Wall Street expectations, and Lilly raised its forecast for full-year 2026 sales and profit. Lilly shares rose 7.5% in premarket trading. The results cement the Indianapolis company's dominance in the anti-obesity drug market as it seeks to extend that to weight-loss pills. Lilly released its new weight-loss pill Foundayo this month, competing with Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill, which came out in January. Early prescription data showed a slower start for Lilly's pill than for Novo Nordisk's, but analysts predict Lilly's pill will eventually be a big seller. Both companies think there is a large, untapped market for pill versions of weight-loss drugs, because some people don't like needles or find pills more convenient. For the first quarter, sales of Lilly's Mounjaro more than doubled to $8.66 billion. Mounjaro is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes in the U.S., and is marketed for both diabetes and weight loss outside the U.S. Sales outside the U.S. more than tripled, well above analysts' expectations. Sales of Lilly's weight-loss shot Zepbound rose 79% to $4.1 billion. Overall, Lilly said its first-quarter sales rose 56% to $19.8 billion, an unusually high rate of growth for a large, established pharmaceutical company. The mean estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet was $17.82 billion. Lilly's first-quarter income more than doubled to $7.4 billion, or $8.26 a share. Lilly's adjusted earnings, excluding certain items, were $8.55 a share, well ahead of the $6.97 a share FactSet estimate.