Eli Lilly's second-quarter revenue hit $23 billion, up 48% from a year earlier, as sales of its GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound kept climbing. Management raised its full-year revenue guidance to $85-87 billion, a sign the company expects the momentum to hold.
Mounjaro and Zepbound carry the quarter
Mounjaro, the diabetes drug that's also used for weight loss, brought in $9.9 billion worldwide, a 91% jump. Zepbound, the obesity-specific treatment, saw U.S. revenue grow 44% to $4.9 billion. Overall sales volume rose 60%, which more than offset a 13% drop in realized prices.
International growth and the China price cut
International revenue surged 80% to $8.6 billion, with volume up 113%. But that growth came with a cost. Prices outside the U.S. fell 36% after Mounjaro was added to China's National Reimbursement Drug List. The move opened a huge market but squeezed per-unit revenue.
A bigger market, and a longer wait
Morgan Stanley projects the global obesity and diabetes drug market will reach $190 billion by 2035, up from $79 billion in 2025. Oral GLP-1 pills and expanding insurance coverage are expected to drive that growth. Jim Cramer and CNBC analyst Jeff Marks called Eli Lilly and Nvidia top momentum stocks. Jeff Marks said Eli Lilly's GLP-1 sales are more towards the end of the decade, requiring a longer time horizon.
That longer time horizon is worth keeping in mind. The stock is up 88% in the last 12 months, and the company is betting on a market that's still taking shape. Investors will be watching whether the China price cut continues to weigh on international revenue in the coming quarters.
