Key Highlights
- Eli Lilly exceeded Q1 profit forecasts with adjusted EPS reaching $8.55 versus analyst estimates of $6.97.
- Total revenue reached $19.8 billion, representing a 56% year-over-year increase and surpassing the $17.6 billion projection.
- Mounjaro sales surged 125% to $8.7 billion; Zepbound revenue increased 80% to $4.2 billion.
- The pharmaceutical company elevated its 2026 full-year EPS forecast to a range of $35.50–$37.00, up from the previous $33.50–$35.00.
- The newly launched oral GLP-1 medication Foundayo garnered 3,707 U.S. prescriptions during its debut week, falling short of the roughly 8,000 prescriptions analysts had anticipated.
Eli Lilly delivered a performance that left little room for criticism. The pharmaceutical powerhouse exceeded Wall Street’s projections across key metrics while simultaneously boosting its annual outlook — a combination that resonated strongly with market participants.
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker announced adjusted profit of $8.55 per share for the first quarter of 2026, handily surpassing the Street’s $6.97 consensus by $1.58. Total sales reached $19.8 billion, significantly outpacing the anticipated $17.6 billion and marking a 56% climb from the $12.7 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter.
The impressive revenue expansion was primarily fueled by a 65% surge in volume, although price reductions on its blockbuster medications Mounjaro and Zepbound trimmed approximately 13 percentage points from overall growth.
GLP-1 Blockbusters Continue Momentum
Mounjaro, the company’s type 2 diabetes treatment, generated $8.7 billion in sales, representing a remarkable 125% increase. Meanwhile, Zepbound, its weight management therapy, climbed 80% to reach $4.2 billion in quarterly revenue.
Domestic revenue advanced 43% to $12.1 billion. Markets outside the United States experienced even stronger growth, with international revenue soaring 81% to $7.7 billion, underscoring the global appetite for GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies.
Adjusted gross profit margin stood at 82.6%, slightly below the previous year’s level as the company navigated pricing headwinds on its top-selling products.
Chief Executive David Ricks characterized the quarter as a robust beginning to 2026. “We achieved 56% revenue expansion during the first quarter and increased our full-year revenue projection by $2 billion,” Ricks noted.
Lilly enhanced its 2026 revenue outlook to a range of $82.0–$85.0 billion, raised from the prior $80.0–$83.0 billion guidance. The revised midpoint of $83.5 billion exceeds Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $81.67 billion.
The company’s refreshed adjusted earnings per share guidance of $35.50–$37.00 replaces the earlier $33.50–$35.00 range, with the new midpoint of $36.25 comfortably above the analyst consensus of $34.53.
New Oral GLP-1 Launch Shows Soft Start
The company’s recently introduced oral GLP-1 medication Foundayo, which became available earlier in April, attracted considerable investor scrutiny as a potential competitive threat to Novo Nordisk‘s position in the oral weight management category, where the Danish rival has established an earlier foothold.
Foundayo generated 3,707 prescriptions across the United States during the week concluded April 17 — approximately half the ~8,000 scripts Wall Street analysts had projected. This slower-than-expected uptake represents an area requiring monitoring going forward.
Ricks positioned the medication as one that will “substantially broaden the population able to access GLP-1 therapy,” highlighting its convenience profile: patients can take it at any point during the day, unrestricted by food or beverage requirements — distinguishing it from competing oral GLP-1 alternatives.
Shares jumped more than 5% during premarket hours immediately following the earnings release before moderating slightly as regular trading commenced.
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