Eli Lilly (LLY) 2nd Quarter 2023 Earnings Report

Eli Lilly on Tuesday behaved its full-year guidance as second-quarter earnings jumped 85% from the prior-year period on strong sales from the drug giant’s drug pipeline.

The company now expects full-year sales to be between $33.4 billion and $33.9 billion, up from a previous guidance of $31.2 billion to $31.7 billion. Eli Lilly also raised its adjusted earnings guidance for the year to a range of $9.70 to $9.90 per share, up from $8.65 to $8.85.

Shares of Eli Lilly are up 9% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

That’s how Eli Lilly feels carried outcompared to Wall Street expectations, based on a Refinitiv analyst poll:

• Adjusted result: $2.11 per share versus $1.98 per share expected
• Revenue: $8.31 billion versus $7.58 billion expected

The company posted net income of $1.76 billion, or $1.95 per share, for the quarter. That’s an increase from net income of $952.5 million, or $1.05 per share Same period a year ago.

Including charges related to some intangible assets and losses on securities, the company reported adjusted earnings of $1.9 billion, or $2.11 per share.

The company’s quarterly revenue of $8.31 billion represented a 28% increase over the same period last year.

The revenue growth was driven by sales of breast cancer drug Verzenio, which rose 57% to $926.8 million in the quarter. Sales of Jardiance, a pill that lowers blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes, rose 45% to $668.3 million in the second quarter.

Newer drugs like Mounjaro, the company’s type 2 diabetes injection, also contributed to the sales growth, posting $979.7 million in sales for the quarter. The drug was first approved in the United States in May 2022 and had sales of just $16 million in the same period last year.

Investors have high hopes for Mounjaro’s potential mega-blockbuster development beyond diabetes, with some research suggesting it could be even more effective at weight loss than Novo Nordisks popular Wegovy and Ozempic injections.

The company in April sold the rights on its emergency diabetes drug Baqsimi to Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, which had sales of $579 million in the second quarter.

But the sale of the cancer drug Alimta weighed on sales. First introduced in 2004, the treatment resulted in a 73% decline in sales to $60.9 million in the second quarter.

Alimta’s last US patent expired in May, leading to lower demand as lower-priced generic competitors entered the market.

Eli Lilly also reported no sales for its Covid-19 antibody treatments, compared to $129 million in the second quarter of 2022. The Food and Drug Administration raised up the approval of the company’s own antibody bebtelovimab in November.

Eli Lilly’s stock has rallied over the past few months, thanks in part to positive trial results for its Alzheimer’s drug. Donanemab and the company’s advances in its promising anti-obesity drug pipeline.

Executives are also likely to be questioned about a lawsuit filed Monday Nectar Therapeutics accuse Eli Lilly is said to have undermined a drug development deal struck between the two companies in 2017.

This story evolves. Please check again for updates.