Health and Healthcare

How Eli Lilly Earnings Won Big on New Drug Sales

Chris Lange

Published: January 31, 2017 9:50 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 3:20 pm

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) released its fourth-quarter earnings report before the markets opened on Tuesday. The company said that it had $0.95 in earnings per share (EPS) and $5.76 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for $0.98 in EPS and revenue of $5.55 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.78 and $5.38 billion in revenue.

Another pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, reported mixed earnings before the markets opened as well.

In terms of guidance for 2017, Eli Lilly expects revenue to be between $21.8 billion and $22.3 billion and EPS estimates to be in the range of $4.05 to $4.15. The consensus estimates are $4.10 in EPS and $21.96 billion in revenue for the full year.

One of the big developments in this quarter was that solanezumab did not meet the primary endpoint in its Phase 3 study for patients with mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, Eli Lilly decided not to pursue regulatory submissions for solanezumab in this indication.

Eli Lilly reported its top grossing drug sales in the fourth quarter as follows:

• Humalog had revenues of $819.8 million.
• Cialis had revenues of $676.3 million.
• Alimta had revenues of $541.6 million.
• Forteo had revenues of $422.5 million.
• Humulin had revenues of $355.3 million.
• Cymbalta had revenues of $181.8 million.
• Strattera had revenues of $243.2 million.
• Zyprexa had revenues of $153.0 million.
• Erbtitux had revenues of $153.7 million.
• Effient had revenues of $140.9 million.
• Trulicity had revenues of $337.0 million.
• Cyramza had revenues of $177.1 million.
• Jardiance had revenues of $76.1 million.
• Taltz had revenues of $61.3 million.

David A. Ricks, president and CEO of Eli Lilly, commented:

Newly launched products – including Trulicity, Cyramza, Jardiance and Taltz – led Lilly’s volume-driven growth in 2016. Pipeline progress also continued with approvals of new products and new indications for existing products in our core therapeutic areas of diabetes, oncology and immunology. We expect this momentum to continue in 2017 and remain focused on launching new products, improving productivity and advancing our pipeline as we work to bring life-changing medicines to patients.

The company paid $300 million to repurchase company stock in this quarter. For the full year, Eli Lilly returned $2.8 billion in cash to shareholders through both its dividend and share repurchase program.

Shares of Eli Lilly traded early Tuesday at $74.31, with a consensus analyst price target of $85.76 and a 52-week trading range of $64.18 to $83.79.