Lilly Beats Estimates and Raises Its 2026 Revenue Guide to $91 Billion to $92 Billion

Eli Lilly's third-quarter revenue rose 39% to $24.4 billion, beating expectations, as surging demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound outran lower prices.

Eli Lilly and Company reported third-quarter 2026 results on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. The quarter covered the three months ended Sept. 30, 2026.

Revenue was $24.4 billion, up 39% from $17.6 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenue of $22.61 billion, according to LSEG data.

Adjusted earnings were $7.48 a share, up 7% from $7.02 a year earlier. The consensus estimate was $6.26 a share, according to LSEG data.

On a reported basis, net income was $6.5 billion, or $7.22 a share. Both profit measures included $4.57 a share of acquired research charges.

“Lilly had another strong quarter, exceeding our prior expectations and allowing us to raise our full-year outlook,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly's chair and chief executive.

Two drugs did most of the work

Mounjaro revenue reached $10.72 billion, up 65% from a year earlier. That topped expectations of $10.16 billion, according to LSEG data.

Zepbound brought in $5.35 billion, up 49%. Expectations were $5.09 billion, according to LSEG data.

Together, the two drugs supplied about two-thirds of total revenue, a TickerGrove calculation. The rest of the portfolio grew from a much smaller base.

Mounjaro sales outside the United States rose 93% to $5.7 billion. United States Mounjaro revenue was $5.0 billion, up 41%.

Zepbound revenue in the United States rose 48% to $5.3 billion. Demand, not price, drove both products in the quarter.

Worldwide volume rose 53%, while realized prices fell 15%. United States revenue rose 34% to $15.1 billion, and revenue outside it rose 47% to $9.3 billion.

Prices fell 7% in the United States and 29% outside it. The outside decline followed Mounjaro's listing on China's national reimbursement drug list, which sets state-backed coverage.

A $900 million tailwind that will not repeat

Revenue included about $900 million of benefits in the quarter. The largest piece was $410 million of Jardiance milestone payments.

Jardiance is a diabetes drug Lilly sells with Boehringer Ingelheim. Lilly said no further Jardiance milestones remain, so that support ends here.

The remaining benefit came from favorable changes to rebate and discount estimates. Readers should not treat the full $900 million as recurring demand.

Guidance rose on sales and fell on paper

Lilly raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $91.0 billion to $92.0 billion. The prior range was $85 billion to $87 billion.

The increase was $5.5 billion at the midpoint, the company said. Few outlook raises of that size arrive this late in a year.

The adjusted profit guide moved the other way, to $35.00 to $36.00 a share. Its prior range was $35.50 to $36.50 a share.

Underlying profit guidance rose $4.07 a share at the midpoint, a company figure. Acquired in-process research and development charges of $4.57 a share more than offset it.

Those charges are the booked cost of buying unfinished drug programs. They totaled $4.2 billion in the quarter, against $656 million a year earlier.

The charges related primarily to the AtaiBeckley and Curevo acquisitions, Lilly said. The stated range therefore fell 50 cents at the midpoint — a calculation, not a company figure.

Lilly also lifted its performance margin guide to 52.0% to 52.5%, from 49.0% to 50.5%. Performance margin is gross margin after research and selling costs, as the company defines it.

Greg Halter, director of research at Carnegie Investment Counsel, shrugged off the reduction. “They’re spending money so that they can make money down the road,” he said.

Foundayo missed, and Medicare arrived

Foundayo, Lilly's oral obesity pill, brought in $184 million in the quarter. That fell short of analyst estimates of $216.86 million.

Finance chief Lucas Montarce said the shortfall reflected launch-quarter stocking, not weak demand. Some $30 million of second-quarter revenue was inventory sold into the channel, he said.

Excluding that stocking, he said, United States demand more than tripled. It rose to over $120 million from about $37 million, by his account.

The Medicare pilot has brought Lilly more than half a million new customers since July, the company said. The pilot covers GLP-1 drugs, medicines that mimic a gut hormone, for people aged 65 and older.

Participants pay $50 a month under the program. Lilly also won approval for Mounjaro to reduce cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes.

Its once-weekly insulin, Onswik, won approval in the quarter as well. Retatrutide delivered greater blood-sugar reduction and more than double the weight loss of Ozempic's highest dose.

The head-to-head Phase 3 result keeps the next wave of the franchise in view. A regulatory submission for retatrutide is slated for next year, Reuters reported.

Shares hit a record, then eased off it

In afternoon trading on Thursday, Oct. 29, shares were up more than 6% at $1,369.79. They had briefly hit a record high of $1,408 earlier in the session, Reuters reported.

The move left Lilly valued at about $1.2 trillion, according to Reuters. That valuation prices in years of volume growth at lower prices.

What remains unknown

What remains unknown is whether volume keeps outrunning the price cuts. Realized prices fell 15% this quarter, and the Medicare discount is still young.

Also unknown is how quickly Foundayo prescriptions turn into reported sales. What to watch is fourth-quarter Foundayo demand, Medicare uptake, and any further guidance change.

What to watch in Indianapolis is the holiday quarter itself. Another raise would show demand, not one-time milestones, is doing the work.