Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)

Eli Lilly reported on 5 August 2026 that second-quarter revenue rose 48 percent to $23.0 billion, led by Mounjaro and Zepbound, its tirzepatide medicines for diabetes and weight 1. Volume rose 60 percent while the prices it realized fell 13 percent: far more doses reached patients, at less per dose 1. The company raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $85 billion to $87 billion 1.

Profit grew more slowly: net income rose 25 percent to $7.1 billion, held back by $2.8 billion of charges tied to buying Orna Therapeutics and Ajax Therapeutics 1. That charge, called acquired in-process research and development, is the price of buying unfinished medicines, written off at once 1.

The next result comes on 29 October 2026, the first full quarter since Medicare began covering discounted Lilly obesity medicines on 1 July 102. The open question is the pill race: in August, IQVIA counted about 172,000 weekly prescriptions for Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill against 34,219 for Lilly's Foundayo, HLTH reported 19.

Before tirzepatide, Lilly grew slowly: revenue was $22.3 billion in 2019, against $21.5 billion in 2018 (computed) 6. Volume rose, but lower realized prices and a strong dollar took much of the gain 6.

The same year it finished leaving animal health: in March 2019 it gave up its remaining 80.2 percent of Elanco through a tax-free exchange offer and booked a gain of about $3.7 billion 6. From then on it reported a single business, human medicines 6.

The pandemic brought a detour: revenue rose 15 percent in 2021 to $28.3 billion, and COVID-19 antibodies made at the request of governments added $2.2 billion (computed) 7. Trulicity, a weekly diabetes injection, was then the biggest product at $6.5 billion (computed) 7. By 2023 the antibodies brought in nothing at all 8.

Revenue stalled at $28.5 billion in 2022 (computed) as generic copies of Alimta, a lung cancer drug, arrived in the first half of that year 8. The turn began quietly: Mounjaro, the first tirzepatide medicine, sold $482.5 million in 2022 and $5.2 billion in 2023 (computed) 8.

Revenue rose 20 percent in 2023 to $34.1 billion (computed), carried by Mounjaro, Verzenio and Jardiance and by the sale of rights to Zyprexa and Baqsimi 8. The olanzapine sale alone added $1.4 billion of revenue that year 3. Zepbound, tirzepatide for weight loss, launched in the United States in November 2023 9.

In 2024 revenue jumped 32 percent to $45.0 billion (computed), and Zepbound alone brought $4.93 billion in the United States 9. Demand ran ahead of the plants: at times that year the company could not make enough incretin medicine 9.

Then came the step change: 2025 revenue rose 45 percent to $65.2 billion and net income nearly doubled to $20.6 billion 3. Volume added 50 percent while lower prices took away 6 percent, and Mounjaro and Zepbound made up 56 percent of revenue 3.

It kept buying science: in July 2025 it bought Verve Therapeutics, a gene editing company, for $549 million net of cash acquired 3. In November 2025 it reached preliminary agreements with the US government to lower Medicaid and some other prices and to open Medicare to its obesity medicines 3.

The first half of 2026 ran faster still: first-quarter revenue rose 56 percent to $19.8 billion 5. In China, Mounjaro joined the national list of reimbursed drugs, which cut its price there but widened its use 5. Mounjaro and Zepbound made 65 percent of revenue over the six months to 30 June 2026 2.

Mounjaro and Zepbound

Both are tirzepatide, a weekly injection that mimics two gut hormones, GIP and GLP-1, to lower blood sugar and appetite 3. Mounjaro is sold for type 2 diabetes, and Zepbound for obesity and for obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity 3.

In 2025 Mounjaro sold $23.0 billion and Zepbound $13.54 billion 3. In the second quarter of 2026 Mounjaro rose 91 percent to $9.9 billion, and US Zepbound rose 44 percent to $4.9 billion 1.

For people paying themselves through LillyDirect, the lowest dose of the Zepbound multi-dose pen costs $299 a month and higher doses up to $449, Healio reported of Lilly's November 2025 terms 12. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy is the main rival, at about 40.6 percent of the US obesity market across its forms, with Zepbound still the leader, HLTH reported 19.

The compound patent runs to 2036 in the United States, while its US data protection ends in 2027 3. Mass-compounded and counterfeit copies remain a threat the company names in its annual report 3.

Foundayo, the weight-loss pill

Foundayo (orforglipron) is a daily GLP-1 pill the FDA approved on 1 April 2026 for adults with obesity, taken any time without food or water rules 11. In the ATTAIN-1 trial, people on the highest dose who stayed on treatment lost 12.4 percent of their weight, against 0.9 percent on placebo 11.

Self-pay starts at $149 a month for the lowest dose, and insured patients may pay as little as $25 11. It sold $98 million in its first quarter 1. Novo's Wegovy pill reached US pharmacies first, in January 2026, Pharmaceutical Technology reported 20.

Older diabetes medicines

Trulicity, the older weekly GLP-1 injection, fell to $2.91 billion in US sales in 2025 from $3.69 billion 3. Jardiance, sold with Boehringer Ingelheim, brought Lilly $3.43 billion in 2025 3. The insulins Humalog, Humulin and Basaglar complete the line 3.

The government now sets Jardiance's Medicare price from 2026, and it has picked Trulicity and Verzenio for set prices from 2028 3.

Cancer medicines

Verzenio, a pill for a common form of breast cancer, sold $5.72 billion in 2025, up 8 percent 4. Jaypirca, for blood cancers such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia, sold $192 million in the second quarter of 2026, and the new breast cancer pill Inluriyo $75 million 1. In a trial, Retevmo cut the risk of recurrence or death by 83 percent in early lung cancer with a RET fusion 1.

Immunology and neuroscience

Taltz, for psoriasis and arthritis, sold $3.56 billion in 2025 (computed) 3. In the second quarter of 2026 the eczema drug Ebglyss sold $201 million, Omvoh for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease $102 million, and Kisunla for early Alzheimer's disease $167 million 1.

Plants and people

Lilly makes its medicines in Indiana, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Wisconsin, and in Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, China and Japan 3. In September 2026 it broke ground on a $6.5 billion ingredient plant in Houston, one of 10 US manufacturing sites announced since 2020 14. It also put another $4.5 billion into its Lebanon, Indiana sites, more than $21 billion in Indiana since 2020 13.

Capital spending reached $7.8 billion in 2025, against $5.1 billion in 2024 3. At the end of 2025 Lilly employed about 50,000 people, some 27,000 outside the United States and about 12,000 in research 3. David Ricks has been chair and chief executive since 2017, and Lucas Montarce finance chief since 2024 3.

Problems on file

Lawsuits claim injuries from Mounjaro, Trulicity and Zepbound, including stomach problems and a rare eye condition called NAION, in two federal cases in Pennsylvania 2. Lilly also faces suits and inquiries over insulin pricing and over the 340B discount program for clinics 23.

In September 2025 an appeals court upheld a jury verdict that Lilly misreported average manufacturer prices, and the company took a charge 3.

The umbrella, in words

Lilly reports one business, human medicines, sold in about 90 countries 3. Its subsidiaries list names companies it bought, such as Loxo Oncology, Point Biopharma, Morphic, Akouos and Verve Therapeutics, and says some small ones are left out 26.

In 2026 it bought Ventyx, Centessa and Kelonia, and also Orna and Ajax, whose cost was booked as research programs 2. It completed its purchase of AtaiBeckley, a mental health drug developer, on 11 September 2026, after agreeing to pay about $2.8 billion at closing 182.

It owns minority stakes reported to the SEC: 19.9 percent of TRex Bio, 11.9 percent of Aktis Oncology and 7.3 percent of Scribe Therapeutics 222423. The largest holder is the charitable foundation Lilly Endowment, with 90,066,978 shares or 9.6 percent 21.

The board is classified, so directors serve staggered terms 27. A May 2026 proposal to end that fell short of the 80 percent of shares required, with 665,371,049 votes for 25.

Lilly reports its third-quarter results on 29 October 2026, with a call for investors and the press at 10 in the morning, Eastern time 10. It has also planned an Investment Community Meeting for 7 December 2026 5.

Its own 2026 guidance, raised in August, is revenue of $85 billion to $87 billion and a performance margin of 49.0 percent to 50.5 percent 1. That margin is revenue left after production, research and selling costs, as a share of revenue 1.

The company plans to ask the FDA to approve retatrutide, a weekly injection acting on three hormones, in the first quarter of 2027 1. In the TRIUMPH-1 trial people on the 12 mg dose lost 28.3 percent of their weight at 80 weeks, against 2.2 percent on placebo, HCPLive reported 15.

Lilly says the package covers obesity, obstructive sleep apnea and knee osteoarthritis pain 1. Drug Topics reported that TRIUMPH-2 and TRIUMPH-3 brought the program to 5 successful trials 16.

Foundayo has been submitted in the United States for type 2 diabetes, and insulin efsitora alfa, a weekly insulin, is under review in the US, the EU and Japan 13.

Medicare's discounted access to Lilly's obesity medicines runs to 31 December 2027, and the company is still talking with the agency about long-term coverage 2. Trulicity's US compound patent ends in 2027 3.

Government-set Medicare prices for Trulicity and Verzenio begin in 2028, and the company expects other significant products to be selected in later years 3. It says more US and international plants are expected to come online in future periods 3.

The company expects meaningfully higher capital spending in the near term as new plants are built 2. Houston is expected to employ more than 600 people once running, Pharma Manufacturing reported 14.

Past

Eli Lilly & Co.'s revenue rose from $21 billion in fiscal 2016 to $65 billion in fiscal 2025, up 13.3% a year, and climbed in 8 of 9 years; the deepest fall was 6% from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2017; net income was positive in 9 of 10 of those years. Over the three fiscal years to 2025, the diluted share count shrank about 0.2% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 72% of its operating cash flow over those three years. Its officers and directors filed 5 sales (5 under scheduled 10b5-1 plans) and 0 purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-10-20. The grade reads past 8.1 of 10. 12

Present

For the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Eli Lilly & Co. reported revenue of $65 billion and a profit of $21 billion. In fiscal 2025, the company earned about 78 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, and its products earned about 48 cents per dollar of everything the company owns; it owed about 76 cents per dollar of assets, and its share count shrank 0.5% over the year. The company's revenue of $65 billion ranks in the top 1% by size among 315 names in its industry family; a net margin of 31.7% ranks in the top 9%; revenue growth of 31.7% a year over the last three filed years ranks in the top 30%. The chief executive is Ricks, David A (President, Chair, and CEO), filing under that title since 2017-01-27, 9.7 years; the 26 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have been on the record a median of 5.9 years; 6 officer or director changes were reported on Form 8-K since 2023-10-21, against the 26 people in charge now. The grade reads present 7.8 of 10. 21

Future

The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) for the quarter ending 2026-09-30 is due by 2026-11-09 under the SEC's rules. The annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-03-01 under the SEC's rules. The company's cash of $7.3 billion against debt of $41 billion leaves -29.9% of its assets as net cash, in the bottom 4% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 25.8% of revenue in the top 9%; a gross margin of 83% ranks in the top 29%; research spending of 20.5% of revenue ranks in the bottom 26%. Revenue grew 31.7% a year over the last three filed years against 13.3% over all 10, speeding up in the top 15% of its family; the newest year grew 44.7% in the top 28%; research spending grew 22.9% a year in the top 20%. Revenue of $65 billion in fiscal 2025 came in 15.2% above the $57 billion its prior three years' pace pointed to; net income of $21 billion came against a prior three-year average of $7.4 billion; a net margin of 31.7% came against 20.2% before. The grade reads future 6.3 of 10. 312

How the company operates

Eli Lilly & Co. is classed as a product business. In fiscal 2025, product accounted for 94% of revenue and collaboration and other revenue for 7%; by geography, the United States accounted for 67%, Europe 18%, rest of world 9%, Japan 3%, and China 3%. The company reported two product lines in fiscal 2025: Product at $61 billion (94%) and Collaboration and Other Revenue at $4.2 billion (7%); one of two grew against the year before. 21

New moves

On 2026-10-19, the company filed a large holder update on Form SCHEDULE 13G/A. On 2026-10-16, the company filed a notice from an active holder and its intentions on Form SCHEDULE 13D. On 2026-08-05, the company filed a quarterly report (Form 10-Q) for the period ended 2026-06-30, showing the quarterly money story and trend by quarter. On 2026-10-06, the Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General for the government's views in seven cases; the company is not named in this event. 34