Eli Lilly (LLY) reported higher than anticipated earnings for the second quarter Thursday. However disappointing outcomes of its much-awaited oral tablet GLP-1 despatched its inventory down in early buying and selling. The inventory is down 4% year-to-date, even because the gross sales of its blockbuster GLP-1s drive development.
Lilly reported $15.56 billion in revenues, beating Wall Road estimates of $14.69 billion. And earnings per share got here in at $6.31 in comparison with Road expectations of $5.56.
Income within the US alone was $10.81 billion, pushed by a 46% enhance in quantity of gross sales of GLP-1s, Mounjaro and Zepbound, however the potential revenues might have been increased if not for an 8% decline in costs, based on Lilly.
Although the pharma large has a various portfolio of gross sales drivers, consideration has been positioned on the aggressive GLP-1 house, as its weight reduction drug Zepbound has overtaken competitor and first-mover, Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Wegovy.
The most recent GLP-1 prescription knowledge tracked by JPM analysts exhibits Zepbound up 225% 12 months over 12 months, with complete weekly prescriptions, as of the top of July, at greater than 418,000 — in comparison with Wegovy’s 35% 12 months over 12 months development and 281,000 complete weekly prescriptions.
In the meantime, what buyers had considered as the following ace in its pipeline, a GLP-1 tablet, orforglipron, upset in late-stage trials Thursday. The corporate reported a 25% affected person drop-out on the highest dose.
“The discontinuation price on the placebo was additionally fairly excessive (press launch says 29%), which makes us assume there was one thing in regards to the examine that’s odd/distinctive and might want to get some readability right here. To have this many sufferers drop out throughout arms is shocking and virtually doesn’t compute,” mentioned Mizuho’s healthcare knowledgeable Jared Holz.
The tablet has been inching in direction of an FDA choice. The info for the tablet will likely be filed with the FDA this 12 months, and Lilly expects it might get to market by subsequent 12 months.
Lilly’s outcomes come a day after disappointing outcomes from Novo, which has confronted strain from compounders in addition to the competitors from Lilly. Novo revised its 2025 outlook down, to account for slower US gross sales. Lilly, in the meantime, has seen robust development. Particularly with new prescriptions of GLP-1s within the US shifting extra favorably towards Lilly — greater than 60% of latest weight reduction prescriptions are for Zepbound, based on the newest knowledge tracked by analysts.
CEO Dave Ricks mentioned in an announcement, “Lilly delivered one other quarter of robust efficiency, attaining 38% year-over-year income development pushed by sturdy gross sales of Zepbound and Mounjaro and sustained momentum throughout our key medicines.”
