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Key Takeaways
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Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings before the bell Thursday.
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Analysts tracking the company see increased sales and profit for Eli Lilly in the first full period in which its weight-loss drugs ceased to be in shortage.
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The results come after the maker of weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro in January lowered expectations for its fourth-quarter sales.
Eli Lilly (LLY) is set to report fourth-quarter earnings before the bell Thursday, with analysts expecting rising sales and profit in the first full quarter since the company's weight-loss drugs were declared no longer in shortage.
Analysts are bullish on the maker of weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro, with 10 of the 11 analysts who follow the company and are tracked by Visible Alpha rating Eli Lilly stock as a "buy," along with one "hold" rating. The lone hold rating is also the only analyst with a price target below the stock's current level, with the average price target at almost $986—a premium of about 21% above its Monday intraday levels.
Eli Lilly is expected to report $13.63 billion in revenue, up more than 45% year-over-year as the weight-loss drugs have boosted Eli Lilly's revenue over the last several quarters. Net income is projected to more than double from the same time last year to $4.58 billion, or $5.06 per share, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
Earnings Follow Lowered Sales Forecast
Eli Lilly's earnings comes after the drugmaker again lowered expectations for its fourth-quarter sales last month and its third-quarter results disappointed in October.
The company said in January that sales of Mounjaro and Zepbound had grown slower than expected in the latest quarter, with fourth-quarter and full-year revenue expected to come in around $13.5 billion and $45 billion, respectively. Chief Executive Officer David Ricks also said in January that the company expects production of "salable doses" of its weight-loss drugs to be 60% higher in the first half of this year compared with that period in 2024.
Eli Lilly and weight-loss drugmaker rival Novo Nordisk (NVO), which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, have watched demand continuously outpace their supply of the weight-loss drugs. Lilly's drugs were removed from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s shortage list late last year, and the companies have each spent billions on increasing their production capacity.
Eli Lilly shares moved higher Monday but have come down from record levels set last year, although they are still up more than 20% over the last 12 months.
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