David Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly & Co., during a press conference at Generation Park in Houston, Texas, U.S., Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
Marcos Felix | Bloomberg | fake images
Eli Lilly on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat estimates and raised its full-year outlook, as the company continued to see strong demand for its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro.
The company's shares rose 5% in premarket trading Thursday.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects its fiscal 2025 revenue to be between $63 billion and $63.5 billion, up from a previous forecast of $60 billion to $62 billion. Eli Lilly also expects full-year adjusted earnings to be between $23 and $23.70 per share, up from its previous outlook of $21.75 to $23 per share.
Eli Lilly said the guidance reflects President Donald Trump's existing tariffs as of Thursday, but does not include his threats to impose taxes on pharmaceuticals imported into the US.
Mounjaro earned $6.52 billion in revenue during the quarter, up 109% from the same period a year earlier. That exceeded the $5.51 billion analysts were expecting, according to StreetAccount.
Zepbound, which entered the market about two years ago, posted revenue of $3.57 billion in the third quarter. This represents an increase of 184% compared to the same period last year and slightly above the $3.5 billion that Wall Street expected, according to StreetAccount estimates.
Here's what Eli Lilly reported for the third quarter compared to what Wall Street expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $7.02 adjusted vs. $5.69 expected
- Revenue: $17.6 billion vs. $16.01 billion expected
The results come as Eli Lilly works to maintain its advantage over its main rival Nordisk in the burgeoning market for a class of obesity and diabetes drugs called GLP-1.
The company posted third-quarter revenue of $17.6 billion, up 54% from the same period last year.
Sales in the United States increased 45% to $11.3 billion. Eli Lilly said this was due to a 60% increase in the volume (or number of recipes or units sold) of its products, primarily Mounjaro and Zepbound. This was partially offset by lower realized drug prices, the company said.
The pharmaceutical giant posted net income of $5.58 billion, or $6.21 per share, for the third quarter. That compares with net income of $970.3 million, or $1.07 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items associated with the value of intangible assets and other adjustments, Eli Lilly posted earnings of $7.02 per share for the second quarter.
The results underscore Eli Lilly's strong lead in the burgeoning GLP-1 drug market.
The company has gained majority market share over the past year, thanks to the strong profile of its weight loss and diabetes injections and the momentum of its direct-to-consumer sales, among other efforts. Eli Lilly took another step to boost access to Zepbound on Wednesday, partnering with Walmart Offer in-store pick-up of discounted vials of the medication for cash-paying patients.
The company is now betting on its much-watched experimental obesity pill, or forglipron, to solidify its dominance in the space, especially as Novo Nordisk and other drugmakers rush to bring their own next-generation pills or injections to market.
On Thursday, Novo Nordisk launched a rival bid for US obesity biotech company Metsera, hijacking a bid from Pfizer as it tries to catch up to Eli Lilly.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
