Eli Lilly Q2 2026 earnings beat estimates as Mounjaro and Zepbound lift sales
Eli Lilly raised its 2026 revenue forecast after second-quarter sales rose 48%, led by Mounjaro and Zepbound despite lower prices.
By Maya Okafor · Markets Writer
· 2 min read
Eli Lilly Q2 2026 earnings topped Wall Street expectations, and the drugmaker raised its full-year revenue outlook after sales climbed 48%. For investors, the report shows that higher prescription volume for Mounjaro and Zepbound continued to outweigh lower realized prices, the amount Lilly receives after rebates and discounts.
Lilly reported second-quarter revenue of $22.974 billion, up from $15.558 billion a year earlier, according to its Aug. 5 release. Reported net income was $7.095 billion, or $7.94 a share, compared with $5.661 billion, or $6.29 a share, in the prior-year quarter.
On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes or adjusts for specified items, the company reported earnings of $8.38 a share. CNBC, citing an LSEG analyst survey, said analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $6.01 a share on revenue of $20.73 billion. Lilly's reported revenue was $22.97 billion on that comparison.
What drove Eli Lilly's second-quarter earnings growth?
The answer was volume. Lilly said worldwide volume rose 60% year over year, while realized prices fell 13%. That combination produced the 48% increase in companywide revenue.
Mounjaro, Lilly's diabetes treatment, generated $9.94 billion in worldwide revenue, up 91% from a year earlier, CNBC reported. Zepbound, the company's obesity drug, recorded $4.93 billion in U.S. revenue, a 44% increase. The company also reported $98 million of second-quarter sales from Foundayo, its newly launched obesity pill.
In the U.S., revenue rose 33% to $14.4 billion as volume increased 37%, partly offset by a 3% decline in realized prices, Lilly said. Revenue outside the U.S. increased 80% to $8.6 billion, with volume up 113% and realized prices down 36%. Lilly said the lower international prices were primarily related to Mounjaro joining China's National Reimbursement Drug List.
Why did Lilly change its 2026 outlook?
Lilly lifted its 2026 revenue forecast to between $85 billion and $87 billion, from a prior range of $82 billion to $85 billion. The higher sales range reflects the company's updated view after the quarter, rather than a guaranteed result.
Its updated non-GAAP earnings outlook is $35.50 to $36.50 a share, compared with $35.50 to $37 previously. Lilly said it increased underlying non-GAAP profit guidance by $2.78 a share at the midpoint, but that improvement was more than offset by $3.03 a share of acquired in-process research and development charges tied to deals in the quarter.
Those charges were included in both reported and non-GAAP second-quarter EPS, according to Lilly. The company reported $3.03 a share of such charges in the latest quarter, versus $0.14 a share a year earlier.
The results leave investors with two figures to track through the rest of 2026: whether the strong volume growth in Lilly's leading medicines persists, and whether price declines continue to limit how much of that demand turns into revenue and earnings.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
