Eli Lilly ups full-year profit forecast amid soaring demand for weight-loss drug Zepbound, stock jumps 7%

Eli Lilly on Thursday raised forecasts for its full-year profit and revenue after the surging popularity of its weight-loss and diabetes drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro, saw the drugmaker easily surpass third quarter earnings expectations.

Shares of Eli Lilly, currently the world’s largest healthcare firm by market capitalisation, soared by 7 per cent in pre-market trading.

Lilly predicts it will achieve an adjusted profit of between $23.00 and $23.70 per share this year, an increase on its previous guidance of $21.75 to $23.00 per share.

For the third-quarter 2025, Lilly’s revenue rpse 54% to $17.60 billion driven by volume growth from Mounjaro and Zepbound. Its EPS increased by $5.14 to $6.21 on a reported basis and increased by $5.84 to $7.02 on a non-GAAP basis.

"Lilly delivered another strong quarter, with 54% revenue growth year-over-year driven by continued demand for our incretin portfolio," said David Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO, in a statement.

"We advanced orforglipron through four additional Phase 3 trials, enabling global obesity submissions by year-end, and we achieved U.S. FDA approval of Inluriyo (imlunestrant)—marking key progress across our pipeline. We continue to increase manufacturing capacity, announcing new facilities in Virginia and Texas and an expansion of our site in Puerto Rico," Ricks added.

The company’s strong performance was attributed by Dave Ricks to the continued, robust demand for its Incretin portfolio (a class of drugs that mimic natural hormones to improve blood sugar control).

The weight-loss drug Zepbound, which was authorised in late 2023, posted sales of $3.6 billion for the reported quarter, outperforming analysts’ estimates of $3.23 billion.

Zepbound’s prescription rates are now largely outstripping those of rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, despite the latter having been on the market for over two years longer.

Lilly competes directly with Novo Nordisk for dominance in the weight-loss drug market, which is forecast to be worth $150 billion by the end of the decade. Novo Nordisk will announce its own earnings on 5 November; its US-listed shares were trading down 1.4 per cent following the Lilly news.

Novo Nordisk offers $6.5 billion for Metsera, seeking to outbid Pfizer

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S has submitted an offer to acquire the obesity start-up Metsera Inc. for a minimum of $6.5 billion. The unsolicited bid aims to trump an existing agreement with rival Pfizer Inc., allowing Novo Nordisk to consolidate its position in the competitive weight-loss medication market .

Novo Nordisk said in a statement on Thursday that it had made an uninvited proposal to acquire Metsera for an upfront cash payment of $56.50 per share.

The total purchase price could increase by up to $21.25 per share, equivalent to $2.5 billion, should Metsera achieve specific commercial and developmental milestones. This means the Danish company is offering a maximum total price of $77.75 per share, including all milestone payments. This is 11 per cent higher than the maximum value of the Pfizer bid, which stands at $70 per share.

Novo Nordisk stated that the cash consideration would be paid at the point of signing in exchange for non-voting preferred stock, which represents 50 per cent of Metsera's share capital.