Eli Lilly Raises Annual Outlook as Mounjaro and Zepbound Sales Explode

The company’s blockbuster medications remain the primary engine of this expansion. Mounjaro generated $9.94 billion in worldwide revenue, comfortably beating analyst projections of $8.99 billion. Meanwhile, Zepbound posted $4.93 billion in U.S. sales, a 44% increase over the previous year. This volume-driven success persists despite lower realized prices, a trade-off CEO Dave Ricks previously signaled would be necessary to capture broader market share. The company now expects 2026 revenue to reach between $85 billion and $87 billion.

International markets provided a significant boost, with revenue outside the U.S. jumping 80% to $8.6 billion. While lower pricing in regions like China—where Mounjaro was added to state-run health insurance—impacted margins, the sheer volume of prescriptions offset those declines. Lilly’s newly launched obesity pill, Jaypirca, contributed $98 million in its first quarter on the market. Bolstered by this massive cash flow, the firm continues an aggressive acquisition strategy, recently targeting assets in the psychedelics and vaccine sectors to diversify its portfolio ahead of anticipated growth in global GLP-1 usage.