Default

Weight Loss, Diabetes Drugs Propel Eli Lilly to Better-Than-Expected Forecast for 2024

[ad_1]

The popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro pushed Eli Lilly past fourth-quarter forecasts, and the drugmaker expects 2024 to turn out largely better than expected too, as new products build momentum.

Lilly debuted on Tuesday a forecast for the new year that calls for adjusted earnings ranging from $12.20 to $12.70 per share as its new weight-loss drug Zepbound becomes established following its launch late last year.

Analysts expect earnings of $12.39 per share, according to the data firm FactSet.

Zepound, a new version of Mounjaro, registered about $176 million in sales during the final weeks of the fourth quarter after it became the latest drug approved for a hot area of medicine, chronic weight management.

FactSet says analysts expect around $1.9 billion in sales from Zepbound this year. They see sales climbing to $12 billion in a few years.

Photos You Should See

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Gallery staff pose for photographs as "Untitled (No Comment) (2020) by Barbara Kruger is displayed at the Serpentine South Gallery on January 31, 2024 in London, England. The first solo institutional show in London in over 20 years by the American conceptual artist and collagist is on display at the Serpentine. The exhibit features her distinctive, short, impactful slogans borrowed from advertising, graphic design, and magazines, blown up across installations, moving image works, and soundscapes throughout the gallery. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Lilly also saw Mounjaro sales climb 65% to $2.21 billion in the fourth quarter compared to the year’s previous quarter.

For 2024, the drugmaker also is awaiting a Food and Drug Administration decision on its potential Alzheimer’s treatment, donanemab. Research has shown that the drug can modestly slow mental decline in patients with the fatal, mind-robbing disease. That hasn’t been possible until treatments like Leqembi from the Japanese drugmaker Eisai entered the market the past few years.

In the final quarter of 2023, Lilly booked a $2.19 billion profit. Earnings adjusted for one-time items came to $2.49 per share.

Revenue grew 28% to $9.35 billion.

Analysts expect adjusted earnings of $2.30 per share on $8.95 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Lilly shares jumped 5% to $741.50 in premarket trading Tuesday.

The stock price topped $700 for the first time on Monday, and has already set several new all-time high marks just this year. The price of Lilly shares has climbed over 400% since the start of the decade.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ad_2]

Source link