Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY +3.30%) rose this past week after the medicine maker reported skyrocketing profits fueled by sales of its blockbuster weight loss drugs.
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Demand for GLP-1 drugs is booming
Eli Lilly's revenue surged 56% year over year to $19.8 billion in the first quarter.
The healthcare giant has been working with regulators to lower prices for several of its products. But these discounts were more than offset by volume gains. In all, realized prices declined by 13%, while volume climbed 65%.
NYSE: LLY
Key Data Points
The company's massively popular GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound were particularly powerful growth drivers, with sales rising 125% and 80%, respectively, to $8.7 billion and $4.2 billion.
All told, Eli Lilly's adjusted net income soared 155% to $7.7 billion, or $8.55 per share. That handily exceeded Wall Street's estimates, which had called for per-share profits of $6.79.
Foundayo should help to expand the GLP-1 market
These excellent results prompted Eli Lilly to raise its revenue and adjusted earnings per share targets to $82 billion to $85 billion and $35.50 to $37. That's up from a prior forecast of $80 billion to $83 billion and $33.50 to $35.
The drugmaker's new GLP-1 pill, Foundayo, is expected to fuel further gains. The once-daily pill is a more convenient option than Eli Lilly's injectable GLP-1 drugs. More than 20,000 people are already taking the recently FDA-approved pill just several weeks after its launch.
"Foundayo will meaningfully expand the number of people who can benefit from GLP-1s," CEO David Ricks said.
