Eli Lilly earnings: third quarter 2026

Eli Lilly's sales rose 39% in the third quarter of 2026 to $24.4 billion, driven by far more patients taking its diabetes and weight-loss medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound, even as average prices fell. Profit grew much more slowly, held back by heavy spending on buying rights to experimental drugs. The bigger news is the outlook: Lilly raised its forecast for the year's sales so far that even the bottom of the new range is above the top of the old one. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Earnings per share were $7.22 as reported and $7.48 on the company's adjusted basis, both well above the $5.38 that analysts expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

• Sales rose 39% because Lilly sold far more medicine, more than making up for average prices that fell 15%. ¹
• Mounjaro sales rose 65% to $10.7 billion, with Zepbound up 49%, and the two together make up most of what Lilly sells. ¹

The weak points

• Lilly booked $4.2 billion of charges for buying rights to unfinished drug projects, so its own adjusted earnings per share rose only 7% while sales rose 39%. ¹
• About $900 million of the quarter's sales came from items that are not ordinary product sales, mainly milestone payments for the drug Jardiance that will not come again. ¹

What the company expects

• Lilly raised its forecast for 2026 sales to $91 to $92 billion, from $85 to $87 billion before. ¹
• Lilly also raised the share of sales it expects to have left after production, research and selling costs to 52.0% to 52.5%, from 49.0% to 50.5%. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A very strong report. Sales grew 39% on demand, profit per share came in well above what analysts expected, and Lilly raised its forecast for the year's sales and running margin, with the main soft spot being deal charges that kept profit growth far below sales growth.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Eli Lilly's results release, 29 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 29 October 2026. ↩