Eli Lilly (LLY) Reported Weak Q1 Results

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) was founded by a pharmacist named Colonel Eli Lilly way back in 1876. The company, known for its quality drugs, is often recognized for developing the first commercial insulin to treat diabetes. Over the years, Eli Lilly expanded into areas such as oncology and cardiac medications, while keeping its dominant position in the global diabetes drug market. Today, it is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies, responsible for developing several critical medicines.

The Indiana-based pharmaceutical giant on Tuesday announced its financial results for the first quarter below expectations. Eli Lilly reported earnings of $1.355 billion, or $1.49 per share for the three months ended March 31, representing a drop of 7 percent from $1.457 billion, or $1.60 per share in the comparable quarter of 2020. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.87 per share, missing the consensus forecast of $2.12 per share.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $6.806 billion, up 16 percent from the year-ago quarter. However, revenue slightly fell short of $6.932 billion estimated by analysts. Operating costs in the quarter jumped 11 percent to $3.261 billion, mainly fueled by research and development expenses related to Covid-19 treatments.

Commenting on the quarter, CEO David Ricks said in a statement, “In the first quarter of 2021, Lilly continued to advance our core business and make strategic progress to drive future growth, all while delivering hundreds of thousands of doses of our COVID-19 antibodies to patients and receiving new data for our monoclonal antibody therapies and new authorizations around the world to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Eli Lilly also revised its outlook for the full year. The company now expects to report an adjusted profit in the range of $7.80 per share to $8 per share and revenue between $26.6 billion and $27.6 billion for fiscal 2021. The updated outlook is below the consensus forecast of $8.24 per share for earnings and $27.7 billion for revenue. Eli Lilly stock fell nearly 3 percent in the mid-day trading Tuesday following weak quarterly results and guidance.