Funny what Wall Street will decide to react to when earnings come around. Take the case today of Lilly
All things considered, there was really nothing wrong with the quarter. Sales rose 5%, new product sales came in nicely (up 48% and nearly one-quarter of the total), and adjusted income came in better than last year's by a low teens percentage.
This being a big pharmaceutical company, I'm sure there will be plenty of analysis and regurgitation on the performance of individual drugs, so I'll chime in, too. Zyprexa and Cymbalta both did OK -- and analysts have certainly been concerned about competition from Bristol-Myers
Diabetes care, though, was less impressive. Sales rose only 5%, and Byetta sales were constrained by insufficient supply. I guess that's a mixed blessing for Lilly and the drug's developer AmylinPharmaceuticals
When I look at Lilly shares, I still can't get all that excited about them. Even acknowledging the long-term potential of investigational drugs like Arxxant (which the company announced it will co-market with Alcon
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson owns shares of Amylin Pharmaceuticals but has no financial interest in any other stocks mentioned (which means he's neither long nor short the shares).