(Reuters) – Eli Lilly forecast annual profit largely above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, providing some relief to investors after another quarter of sales miss for its popular diabetes and weight-loss treatments.
The company said last month that it expected to report sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss treatment Zepbound below analysts’ expectations for a second straight quarter.
The U.S. drugmaker’s shares were up 1% in premarket trading. The stock has more than doubled in value in the last two years, making it the most valuable healthcare company in the world, but has been subdued since October when Lilly reported disappointing sales for its keenly watched treatments.
Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy dominate a market for weight-loss treatments that analysts estimate could be a $150 billion market by the early 2030s. Both the drugmakers have seen rapid growth in recent years, fueled by investor interest in their weight-loss and diabetes treatments.
Danish rival Novo on Wednesday forecast a slower growth this year compared to 2024, and said it saw “intact strong demand for obesity treatments” in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Lilly has previously forecast total sales to be between $58 billion and $61 billion in 2025, banking on launch of its popular drug Mounjaro in new markets, including China, India, Brazil and Mexico for both diabetes and obesity patients. Analysts estimated revenues of $59.21 billion for 2025.
Investors and analysts expect Lilly to share details on how it plans to promote Zepbound this year in a bid to take more market share from Wegovy, an older, more established drug.
Lilly began advertising the drug in November and has previously blamed physical and financial constraints at wholesalers for the sales miss.
Zepbound sales were $1.91 billion for the fourth quarter, below the $2.03 billion analysts were expecting. The drug had brought in sales of $175.8 million in the fourth-quarter of 2023, when it was launched.
On an adjusted basis, the U.S. drugmaker expects to earn between $22.50 and $24.00 per share this year. Analysts were expecting a profit of $22.86 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Quarterly sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro came in at $3.53 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru and Patrick Wingrove in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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