Financial Associated Press, April 30 (editor Shi Zhengcheng) the stock price has risen in the past two years.Spincoinmaster2021After the market capitalization exceeded 700 billion US dollars, Eli Lilly, one of the world's "weight loss drugs" and the leader of pharmaceutical stocks, released again on Tuesday.Spincoinmaster2021A bright spot in the financial results, pushing share prices to an all-time high.

As of press time, Lilly has risen by more than 6%, and its market capitalization has increased by more than $45 billion.

Best-selling GLP-1 drugs improve year-round guidelines

In the first quarter of 2024, Eli Lilly achieved revenue of 87%Spincoinmaster2021The figure was 0.68 billion US dollars, compared with 6.9 billion US dollars in the same period last year. Among them, the revenue of Mounjaro (tierpotide injection) for the treatment of Ⅱ diabetes has reached 18.Spincoinmaster20210.1 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 568 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year. Zepbound, the slimming version of the drug, was approved to go on sale in the US in November last year, and Q1 achieved sales of $517 million in its first full quarter in the face of severe shortages.

Lilly said demand for glucagon drugs was extremely strong, outpacing supply growth. Next, the company will continue to expand production capacity, and the most significant capacity growth this year is expected to occur in the second half of the year. The company revealed that the sales performance of Mounjaro and Zepbound in overseas markets is entirely related to the supply available in the market.

Based on the "visibility" of GLP-1 's expansion in production for the rest of the year, Lilly also improved its full-year guidance: the top and bottom of the revenue guidance increased by $2 billion to $424-$43.6 billion. The earnings per share guidance has also been revised from $12.2 to $12.7 to $13.5 to $14. Previous analysts had consensus expectations of $41.4 billion and $12.50.

Lilly CEO David Ricks said on Tuesday that its top priority is to make every effort to produce more products. This process is being actively promoted, but it not only requires a large amount of capital investment, but also has to face complex technology and strict regulation. Ricks also stressed that Mounjaro and Zepbound are one of the most complex drugs ever made by Eli Lilly.

In the Q1 quarter, Lilly achieved adjusted earnings per share of $2.58, higher than market expectations of $2.46, compared with $1.62 in the same period last year.

The sales of many drugs are lower than expected.

To be clear, although Lilly's share price soared after the announcement, the company's revenue for the quarter was still slightly lower than the market expected ($8.92 billion). Market expectations for Mounjaro, for example, are $2.11 billion, while sales of the previous-generation diabetes drug Trulicity (Duralutide) jumped 26% to $1.46 billion.

The company said the decline in Trulicity sales was mainly due to supply chain restrictions in the United States and competition from other diabetes products. Overseas is related to the reduction in demand and the realization of a decline in sales unit prices, although there is also a tight supply side.

In other star drugs, Verzenio, a breast cancer drug, posted quarterly revenue of $1.05 billion, up 40% from a year earlier, but still slightly below analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion.

Sales of Jardiance, another diabetes drug, rose 12% to $686 million, compared with a market expectation of $718 million. The drug is shared by Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim and is one of the first 10 drugs to be included in the Medicare negotiations.