Investing.com - Eli Lilly's (NYSE:LLY) full-year profit forecast largely surpassed Wall Street expectations on Thursday, as the drugmaker targets expansion of its weight-loss treatments, sending shares higher.
At 10:59 AM ET, Eli Lilly's stock was up 3.2%.
Revenue in the fourth quarter rose 45% to $13.53 billion, driven by volume growth from Mounjaro and Zepbound, versus the consensus of $13.78 billion. EPS for the quarter was $5.32, above the consensus of $5.30.
The company said it expects to report 2025 income per share of $22.50 to $24.00 in 2025, compared with analysts' estimates of $22.86 per share, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. The midpoint of the range represents about 32% growth versus the prior year, Lilly said, adding that it anticipates results will be partially driven by the launch of its Mounjaro diabetes medicine in additional worldwide markets.
"We enter 2025 with tremendous momentum and look forward to strong financial performance and several important Phase 3 readouts which, if positive, will further accelerate our long-term growth," said Lilly CEO David Ricks in a statement.
Lilly's better-than-anticipated outlook comes after the group previously unveiled quarterly sales for its obesity medications last month that came up short of analysts' forecasts, due in part to constraints at wholesalers.
Sales of Mounjaro were $3.53 billion, missing projections of $4.27 billion. Meanwhile, its Zepbound weight-loss drug grew by 52% against the previous quarter to $1.91 billion, also below expectations.
Lilly has been competing with Denmark's Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) in the race to capture the lucrative market for weight-loss drugs, which is estimated to be worth $150 billion by early in the next decade. The medicines have powered returns for the drugmakers, and fueled a surge in their stock prices.
Analysts were optimistic about the stock following the results.
Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) analyst James Shin said while they would have liked to see $25 per share as the upper end of the FY 2025 EPS guidance, the guidance provided by the company was "good enough and we believe there's some room for beat & raise potential."
Elsewhere, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analyst Terence Flynn said, "[w]e expect shares to trade up."