U.S. sales of Zepbound, Lilly's obesity drug, hit $4.16 billion, an 80% year-over-year gain. As with Mounjaro, stronger prescription volumes were partially offset by declining realized prices, the company said.
On a GAAP basis, Lilly earned $7.4 billion, or $8.26 per diluted share, for the quarter — a sharp increase from $2.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, a year ago. Stripping out one-time charges and other items, adjusted earnings per share came to $8.55, well above the $6.66 analysts had forecast, according to CNBC, which had also pegged consensus revenue expectations at $17.62 billion.
Domestically, prescription volume surged 49%, pushing U.S. revenue up 43% to $12.1 billion, the company reported. International revenue grew even faster, rising 81% to $7.7 billion on the back of a 95% jump in volume.
"2026 is off to a strong start, we delivered 56% revenue growth in the first quarter and raised our full-year revenue guidance by $2 billion," Lilly chair and CEO David A. Ricks said in a statement.
During the quarter, Lilly received FDA approval for Foundayo, an oral GLP-1 pill for weight management that can be taken at any time of day without food or water restrictions. Because Foundayo, Lilly's newly cleared oral GLP-1 weight management pill, did not reach the market until the second quarter, no sales revenue from the drug appears in the first-quarter figures. Lilly said it also saw positive Phase 3 results from Foundayo in adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight at elevated cardiovascular risk.
Lilly reported in mid-April that a Phase 3 trial called ACHIEVE-4 found Foundayo met a non-inferiority threshold for cardiovascular safety compared with insulin glargine in adults with type 2 diabetes, and that patients on Foundayo lost an average of about 17.9 pounds over 52 weeks compared with a gain of about 3.1 pounds for those on insulin glargine. Lilly said it plans to file for a type 2 diabetes indication for Foundayo before the end of the second quarter.
The company also announced agreements to acquire Orna Therapeutics, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, Kelonia Therapeutics, and Ajax Therapeutics during the quarter.
