(Reuters) – Eli Lilly said on Tuesday it expects profit above Wall Street estimates in 2024, encouraged by demand for its weight loss drug Zepbound and that for the Mounjaro diabetes treatment.
The company expects adjusted annual earnings of $12.20 to $12.70 per share while analysts had forecast earnings of $12.43 per share, according to LSEG data.
Zepbound grossed $175.8 million (around $163.7 million) in its first weeks on sale in 2023, Eli Lilly said. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late November and went on sale in early December.
Quarterly sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro reached $2.21 billion, compared to $279.2 million in the same period a year earlier.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Eli Lilly shares gained more than 5% in pre-market trading.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Leroy Leo in Bangalore and Patrick Wingrove in New York; Nathan Vifflin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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