Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (LLY) has lowered its full-year profit guidance due to charges related to several recent acquisitions.
The lowered guidance comes despite Eli Lilly posting strong third-quarter financial results that trounced Wall Street estimates, fueled by strong sales of its weight loss drug Mounjaro.
Eli Lilly announced earnings per share (EPS) of $0.10 U.S. versus an expected loss of $0.13 per share.
Revenue for Q3 came in at $9.50 billion U.S. compared to $8.95 billion U.S. that was expected. Sales in the quarter were up 37% from the same period of 2022.
That sales increase was due almost entirely to Mounjaro, a diabetes medication that is being prescribed off-label by doctors to treat obesity pending regulatory approval as a weight loss treatment.
However, Eli Lilly lowered its 2023 earnings guidance to a range of $6.50 U.S. to $6.70 U.S. per share, down from a previous range of $9.70 U.S. to $9.90 U.S. a share.
The lowered guidance is due to charges of $2.98 billion U.S. stemming from a slew of recent acquisitions the company made, including DICE Therapeutics, Versanis Bio, and Emergence Therapeutics. A year ago, Eli Lilly reported charges of only $62 million U.S.
Eli Lilly did maintain its full-year revenue forecast of between $33.4 billion U.S. and $33.9 billion U.S.
Mounjaro posted sales of $1.41 billion in Q3. The drug was first approved to treat diabetes in the U.S. in May 2022 and had sales of just $97.3 million U.S. in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts had expected the drug to bring in $1.28 billion U.S. in worldwide sales during Q3, according to data from FactSet.
In October, Eli Lilly applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of Mounjaro to treat chronic weight gain. A ruling by the regulator is expected within months.
The company’s other diabetes medication, Trulicity, racked up sales of $1.67 billion U.S. in Q3 from a year ago.
Eli Lilly’s revenue also got a boost from its breast cancer pill Verzenio, which saw sales rise 68% to $1.04 billion U.S. in Q3.
The stock of Eli Lilly has gained 56% over the past 12 months and currently trades at $554.46 U.S. per share.
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