Eli Lilly reported third-quarter 2026 results before the open on Thursday that beat expectations on the headline measures and lifted its full-year outlook, sending shares more than 4% higher in premarket trading. Revenue climbed 39% to $24.4 billion from $17.6 billion a year earlier, well above the $22.4 billion consensus estimate. Non-GAAP earnings per share were $7.48, ahead of analyst forecasts by about $0.87 according to GuruFocus.
Mounjaro and Zepbound again carried the quarter. Mounjaro revenue rose 65% to $10.7 billion, while Zepbound revenue grew 48% to about $5.3 billion, leaving the two products together roughly $1 billion ahead of the figure analysts had modeled before the report. Key products revenue reached $17.1 billion. The growth was volume-driven: volume rose 53%, partly offset by a 15% decline in realized prices, a pattern the company has flagged in earlier quarters as access expands and pricing pressure builds.
Lilly raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $91 billion to $92 billion, up from $85 billion to $87 billion in August. The $91.5 billion midpoint is above the $88.7 billion consensus. Adjusted earnings guidance is now $35.00 to $36.00 per share, with a $35.50 midpoint that also tops the $34.46 consensus. The change reflects $4.07 of improved underlying performance at the midpoint, partly offset by $4.57 of acquired in-process research and development charges tied to business development activity in the third quarter.
Investors should note the quarter included roughly $900 million of benefits, mainly $410 million of Jardiance milestones and favorable adjustments to rebate and discount estimates. By simple arithmetic, excluding those items leaves revenue of about $23.5 billion, which would still represent growth of roughly a third from a year earlier. The 15% decline in realized prices nonetheless shows that volume is doing the heavy lifting, a dynamic that makes the durability of demand and access the central issue for the stock.
Expectations were elevated going in. Options markets had implied a move of about 6.6% in either direction after the report, or roughly $85 on a share price near $1,282, so the 4% premarket gain sits inside the expected range. Analysts had pointed to early demand for Foundayo, the company's oral obesity medicine, as a key detail, and Lilly said the release highlighted regulatory progress across its portfolio alongside the financial results.
In a session where Alphabet and Caterpillar are gapping lower on earnings, Lilly offers a contrast: a healthcare growth name beating on volume with higher guidance. The risks to watch are continued realized-price erosion, the pace of Foundayo's launch, and how high-multiple stocks trade if Thursday's GDP and inflation data push Treasury yields, which already sit near 5%, higher. Traders may also watch whether the early gain holds through the morning, since stocks that open strong on earnings sometimes fade once initial buying subsides.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.