Eli Lilly tumbles after selling way fewer weight-loss drugs than expected
Shares of Eli Lilly are tumbling after sales of its well-known GLP-1 weight-loss drugs massively undershot Wall Street’s expectations in the fourth quarter.
The company said on Monday that it made approximately $1.9 billion selling Zepbound and $3.5 billion selling Mounjaro in the final quarter of 2024. Analysts polled by FactSet estimated $2.1 billion for Zepbound and $4.4 billion for Mounjaro.
Both are the same drug (tirzepatide), but Mounjaro is the brand name approved to treat diabetes and Zepbound can be prescribed for a wider range of conditions.
Eli Lilly has struggled to keep up with high demand for its weight-loss drugs. For a chunk of 2024, these drugs were considered in shortage by the US Food and Drug Administration, which allowed copycat compound versions to be sold by companies like Hims & Hers.
“We continued to make progress on our manufacturing build-out, and U.S. supply across all doses of tirzepatide was available throughout Q4,” Eli Lilly CEO David A. Ricks said in a statement. “The rest of our medicines performed within our expectations.”
Ozempic and Wegovy, two other popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs made by Novo Nordisk, have also faced shortages and have flattened in recent quarters.
Both are the same drug (tirzepatide), but Mounjaro is the brand name approved to treat diabetes and Zepbound can be prescribed for a wider range of conditions.
Eli Lilly has struggled to keep up with high demand for its weight-loss drugs. For a chunk of 2024, these drugs were considered in shortage by the US Food and Drug Administration, which allowed copycat compound versions to be sold by companies like Hims & Hers.
“We continued to make progress on our manufacturing build-out, and U.S. supply across all doses of tirzepatide was available throughout Q4,” Eli Lilly CEO David A. Ricks said in a statement. “The rest of our medicines performed within our expectations.”
Ozempic and Wegovy, two other popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs made by Novo Nordisk, have also faced shortages and have flattened in recent quarters.
