Eli Lilly crushes Q4 estimates, gives cheery 2026 guidance
The company reported earnings results on Wednesday.
Eli Lilly reported earnings results on Wednesday that crushed Wall Street estimates, with upbeat full-year guidance the cherry on top. The stock jumped in the early reaction to the print, gaining as much as 9%.
For the last three months of 2025, Lilly reported:
Adjusted earnings per share of $7.54, compared to the $6.91 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.
Revenue of $19.3 billion, compared to the $17.9 billion the Street was penciling in.
For the full-year 2026, Lilly expects:
Annual adjusted earnings per share to land between $33.50 and $35.00, also ahead of the $33.04 analysts are currently expecting.
Annual revenues to hit between $80 billion and $83 billion, compared to the $77.6 billion analysts are penciling in.
Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro, have driven its recent surge in revenue. Sales for both in the fourth quarter also beat the Street’s estimates.
As of the second quarter of last year, the company has outsold Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drugs — a gap that continues to widen. Lilly’s cheery earnings report is a stark contrast to Novo, which told investors on Tuesday to expect sales to drop in 2026 by up to 13%.
Novo launched its first oral GLP-1 pill for weight loss in January, and early uptake has been strong. Lilly has its own pill coming to market later this year.
