On Wednesday, the stock price of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) surged by over 10%, boosting its market capitalization by nearly $100 billion. This followed the company’s quarterly financial results, which far exceeded market expectations, with its diabetes and obesity treatments Mounjaro and Zepbound performing particularly well.
According to the earnings report, Eli Lilly’s fourth-quarter revenue increased by 43% year-over-year to $19.3 billion. Notably, sales of the GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound surged by 110% and 123% respectively, reaching $7.4 billion and $4.3 billion, becoming the core drivers of the company’s growth.
In response to the sharp rise in demand for GLP-1 drugs, Eli Lilly is aggressively expanding its production network. In November of last year, the company reached an agreement with the U.S. government to provide discounted versions of Mounjaro and Zepbound to Medicare beneficiaries, a move expected to further stimulate demand. Additionally, clinical trials have shown that Zepbound outperforms Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy in weight loss, enabling the company to further expand its share in the fast-growing obesity drug market.
During an analyst conference call, Chief Financial Officer Lucas Montarce stated, “Zepbound maintains a leading position in the branded obesity drug market, capturing nearly 70% of new prescriptions.” The company’s adjusted net profit jumped by 41% to $6.8 billion, or $7.54 per share, significantly surpassing Wall Street’s estimate of $6.91 per share.
Management provided a strong outlook for 2026, projecting full-year revenue growth of approximately 25% to a range of $80 billion to $83 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to grow by about 40%, reaching $33.50 to $35.00. Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky remarked, “The past year has been busy and productive, and we anticipate 2026 will continue to deliver meaningful medicines for patients.”
Alongside the tremendous success of its weight loss drug Zepbound, Eli Lilly is quietly expanding into the cutting-edge field of gene therapy. The company recently entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with biotech firm Seamless Therapeutics to co-develop treatments for hearing loss. Under the agreement, Seamless will design and program recombinases for treating hearing loss, while Eli Lilly gains exclusive rights to develop these recombinases into commercial drugs. The collaboration involves total payments exceeding $1.12 billion, including an upfront payment and additional amounts contingent on undisclosed research, development, and commercial milestones.
In a statement, Seamless CEO Albert Seymour said, “Eli Lilly’s commitment to advancing new therapies for genetic diseases aligns with our vision of delivering gene-based medicines to patients with limited treatment options today.” This collaboration is not Eli Lilly’s first venture into gene therapy. In July last year, the company acquired Verve Therapeutics, which focuses on gene-editing therapies for heart disease, for $1.3 billion.
Although the gene therapy sector has yet to produce blockbuster commercial products, analysts believe that both the atherosclerosis drug being developed by Verve and the hearing loss therapies based on Seamless’s recombinase technology hold significant potential. Bolstered by substantial cash reserves (nearly $9.8 billion as of the end of September 2025), Eli Lilly continues to increase its investment in this cutting-edge field, opening new possibilities for long-term growth.
