Eli Lilly stock surged 12% during pre-market trading on Thursday after the pharma giant reported a strong second quarter
People can’t get enough of Eli Lilly $LLY’s blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound. Sales of the highly-sought after drugs during the second quarter outperformed expectations, resulting in the pharma giant raising revenue outlook for the year.
The news left investors pleased, as the company’s stock rose 12% during pre-market trading on Thursday.
Eli Lilly, the American pharmaceutical company famous for its diabetes drugs, said on Thursday that it is raising its 2024 full-year revenue guidance by $3 billion to between $45.4 billion and $46.6 billion.
“Mounjaro, Zepbound and Verzenio led our strong financial performance in the second quarter as we advanced our manufacturing expansion agenda, and it is equally exciting to see the growth around the world of our medicines for cancer, neurological disorders and autoimmune diseases,” said Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks in a press release.
Overall, the company’s revenue in the second quarter of this year rose 36% year over year to $11.3 billion, compared with $8 billion in the same period in 2023.
Sales of Mounjaro in the quarter reached $3 billion, blowing past analysts’ expectations of $2.4 billion in sales, according to a consensus estimate from FactSet.
Zepbound sales reached $1.2 billion, also outperforming Wall Street expectations of $926 million.
Mounjaro and Zepbound belong to a class of drugs known as incretin medications that work by mimicking hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. Incretins were originally used to treat type-2 diabetes, but have become highly sought after for their slimming side effects.
Skyrocketing demand for Zepbound and other weight loss drugs have transformed Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk into the most valuable pharmaceutical companies in the world. However, increased demand has also made it difficult for some patients to get their prescriptions filled. Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s incretin treatments are both listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database.
However, Eli Lilly has invested billions to increase its manufacturing capacity.
“Strong performance by the company’s incretin medicines continued, as production increases resulted in improved channel dynamics and stocking levels in the U.S., contributing to sales growth during the quarter,” Eli Lilly said in a press release. “While supply and demand have come into better balance, expected increases in demand may result in periodic supply tightness for certain presentations and dose levels.”
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