INDIANAPOLIS (dpa-AFX) – The US pharmaceutical company Lilly (Eli Lilly) has had a surprisingly strong start to the year thanks to the continued high demand for its weight loss drugs. CEO David Ricks is even more optimistic for the year as a whole. He is also relying on the new weight loss pill Foundayo, which was approved in the USA at the beginning of April. The news breathed new life into the stock. The stock shot up by almost eight percent in pre-market US trading, although the price had previously lost around a fifth of its value over the course of the year so far.
Ricks now wants to increase sales to between 82 and 85 billion US dollars (70.1 to 72.7 billion euros) this year, which is two billion more at both ends of the range. In 2025, the group had revenue of a good $65 billion.
The most important competitor to the Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk already achieved significant growth in the first quarter. Revenue climbed 56 percent to $19.8 billion, driven by higher sales. Analysts had expected far less. As usual, the boost came from a good run by the big box office hits – although the company had to contend with falling prices here in the USA and China.
However, sales of the diabetes syringe Mounjaro, Lilly’s bestseller, increased to $8.7 billion in the quarter, well above the $7.2 billion expected on the market. Revenues from the weight loss drug Zepbound climbed to $4.2 billion, compared to forecasts of $4 billion.
The company also announced that its new weight loss pill Foundayo had gotten off to a “strong start”. More than a dozen large telemedicine platforms already offer the drug and are currently responsible for around 35 percent of prescriptions.
The bottom line is that profits swelled to $7.4 billion, after just $2.8 billion a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share climbed more than two and a half times to $8.55. Ricks also increased his annual forecast for this key figure: the plan is now for $35.50 to $37 per share instead of the previously targeted $33.50 to $35.
Although Lilly entered the billion-dollar market for weight reducers later than the Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk, which was previously considered the leader, it has recently gained significant momentum in the competition and has overtaken the Danes.
At the beginning of February, Novo boss Mike Doustdar shocked the stock market with a gloomy outlook for 2026: The group announced a decline in sales of up to 13 percent this year due to increasing competition and price pressure. Novo Nordisk plans to present its first quarter figures this Wednesday (May 6th)./tav/err/jha/
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