Image source: Eli Lilly
(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co beat quarterly profit estimates and raised the top-end of its 2020 earnings forecast on Thursday, benefiting from customers stockpiling on medicines such as its diabetes treatment Trulicity amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Shares of the drugmaker rose 2.7% to $161 in early trading as its first-quarter revenue got a nearly $250 million boost due to the stay-at-home orders that led people to stock up on its insulin products and diabetes drug Trulicity.
The health crisis has resulted in massive business disruptions and foiled drug development plans as healthcare providers prioritize treating COVID-19 patients.
The company forecast full-year adjusted profit per share of between $6.70 to $6.90, a 10 cent boost to the top-end, citing more demand for its newer drugs and said it expect clinical trials to resume in the second half of the year.
Top-selling drug Trulicity brought in 40% higher revenue of $1.23 billion in the quarter. Overall revenue rose 15% to $5.86 billion, exceeding Wall Street estimates of $5.51 billion in the quarter.
Excluding items, Lilly earned $1.75 per share, above analysts’ average expectation of $1.48 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
However, net income fell to $1.46 billion, or $1.60 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $4.24 billion, or $4.31 per share, a year earlier when it recorded a gain of $3.68 billion from its spin-off of animal health unit Elanco.
Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur.
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Source: Reuters
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