A sign at Eli Lilly and Company’s Digital Health Innovation Center facility in Singapore on Thursday, November 14, 2024.
Ore Huiying | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Eli Lilly and Company It cut its revenue guidance on Tuesday as the company said demand for its weight loss and diabetes drugs failed to meet its lofty expectations.
The drugmaker’s shares fell about 6% in early trading on Tuesday.
Eli Lilly said it currently expects full-year revenue in 2024 to be about $45 billion. That’s below the company’s October forecast of $45.4 billion to $46 billion. The new outlook still shows revenue rising 32% from the prior year.
Eli Lilly expects fourth-quarter revenue of $13.5 billion. That total includes about $3.5 billion for diabetes treatment Mounjaro and $1.9 billion for obesity drug Zepbound, a so-called incretin drug that the company is booming in.
Eli Lilly downgrades outlook as it competes with Novo Nordisk and other smaller rivals vying for a share of the exploding weight loss and diabetes drug markets. Eli Lilly is developing a weight-loss drug that is more convenient for patients and easier to make, and Ricks expects the drug to be approved as soon as early next year.
Analysts polled by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said Wall Street had expected fourth-quarter and full-year revenue of $13.94 billion and $45.49 billion, respectively.
“While the U.S. incretin market grew 45% compared to the same period last year, our previous guidance expected faster growth this quarter. This, combined with lower-than-expected year-end channel inventories, resulted in our fourth-quarter results, CEO David Ricks said.
The drugmaker also said it expects sales to reach $58 billion to $61 billion in fiscal 2025.
Eli Lilly is expected to report full quarter results on February 6.
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