 "Lilly forecasts 2025 profit above estimates on weight-loss drug strength")
Eli Lilly forecast annual profit largely above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as it prepares to launch its popular diabetes and weight-loss treatments in new markets.
The forecast comes weeks after the drugmaker stunned investors with weaker-than-expected sales for its weight-loss drug Zepbound for the second straight quarter.
The profit forecast could be a step towards restoring investor confidence amid concerns over cooling demand for GLP-1s, the class of treatments to which both Zepbound and rival Wegovy belong.
The company's shares, which have been subdued since October, rose about 3 per cent in premarket trading. The stock has more than doubled in price in the last two years, making it the most valuable healthcare company in the world.
Danish rival Novo Nordisk's on Wednesday forecast a slower growth this year compared to 2024, and said it saw "intact strong demand for obesity treatments" in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Lilly's Zepbound and Novo's Wegovy dominate a market for weight-loss treatments that analysts expect to be a $150 billion market by the early 2030s. Both the drugmakers have seen rapid growth in recent years, fueled by investor interest in their weight-loss and diabetes treatments.
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Lilly has previously forecast total sales to be between $58 billion and $61 billion in 2025 and expects to launch its popular drug Mounjaro in new markets, including China, India, Brazil and Mexico for both diabetes and weight-loss patients.
On an adjusted basis, the U.S. drugmaker expects to earn between $22.50 and $24.00 per share in 2025. Analysts were expecting a profit of $22.86 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Quarterly sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro came in at $3.53 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $4.27 billion.
Zepbound reported quarterly revenue of $1.91 billion, below the $2.03 billion analysts were expecting, hurt by physical and financial constraints at wholesalers.
The drug had brought in sales of $175.8 million in the fourth-quarter of 2023.
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