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Here's How Lilly's Non-Obesity Drugs are Contributing to Sales Growth
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Key Takeaways
LLY's Mounjaro and Zepbound drove 48% of Q1 sales, with other therapies fueling the remaining growth.
Verzenio and Taltz drove Q1 gains with sales up 10% and 26% year over year, respectively.
LLY's new drugs in oncology, immunology, and neuroscience are boosting its expanding portfolio.
While Eli Lilly’s (LLY - Free Report) top-line continues to touch new sky highs thanks to its blockbuster GLP-1 medicines — Mounjaro (for type II diabetes) and Zepbound (for obesity) — which accounted for 48% of overall sales in the first quarter of 2025. However, Lilly also boasts a wide range of products that serve other therapeutic areas, such as neuroscience, oncology and immunology — all high-growth areas and representing significant commercial potential.
Some key growth products include the oncology drug Verzenio and immunology drug Taltz, which accounted for 9% and 6% of total first-quarter sales, respectively. Sales of these blockbuster medications are being driven by increased demand — Taltz sales rose 26% year over year during the quarter, while Verzenio sales jumped 10%. Over the past couple of years, LLY’s new drugs — including Omvoh and Ebglyss in immunology, Jaypirca in oncology and Kisunla in neuroscience — have all been contributing to its top-line growth. Lilly expects the potential launch of new medicines like imlunestrant for metastatic breast cancer to contribute to growth in 2025.
Though Lilly’s non-obesity portfolio is contributing meaningfully, investor focus largely remains on the GLP-1 products. All eyes would be on the magnitude of their sequential growth and market share gains in the upcoming second-quarter results. Our model estimates sales at around $4.46 billion for Mounjaro and $3.09 billion for Zepbound in the to-be-reported quarter.
Big Pharma Diversifies Beyond Flagship Drugs
While Lilly’s non-obesity portfolio is gaining traction, peers like AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) and Merck (MRK - Free Report) are also broadening their therapeutic reach beyond core revenue drivers.
AbbVie, which already markets multiple flagship immunology drugs — Humira, Rinvoq and Skyrizi — is expanding its presence in oncology and neuroscience. In recent years, ABBV has added Epkinly, Elahere and most recently, Emrelis, bringing its total oncology therapies to five. Growth in its neuroscience segment has also been supported by increasing uptake of its migraine drugs, Ubrelvy and Qulipta.
Merck, whose flagship oncology drug Keytruda accounts for nearly half of its total revenues, is expanding its late-stage pipeline to reduce dependence on the product. We believe new products like Capvaxive (pneumococcal vaccine) and Winrevair (PAH drug) have the potential to generate significant revenues over the long term. Merck recently secured the FDA’s approval for long-acting RSV antibody Enflonsia for newborns, which is expected to launch later this month.
LLY’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Lilly have outperformed the industry year to date, as seen in the chart below.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Eli Lilly is expensive. Based on the price/earnings (P/E) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 29.45 times forward earnings, higher than its industry’s average of 15.04. However, the stock is trading below its five-year mean of 34.54.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimates for Lilly’s 2025 EPS have declined from $22.23 to $21.95 in the past 60 days, and EPS estimates for 2026 have increased from $30.89 to $30.91 over the same timeframe.
Image: Bigstock
Here's How Lilly's Non-Obesity Drugs are Contributing to Sales Growth
Key Takeaways
While Eli Lilly’s (LLY - Free Report) top-line continues to touch new sky highs thanks to its blockbuster GLP-1 medicines — Mounjaro (for type II diabetes) and Zepbound (for obesity) — which accounted for 48% of overall sales in the first quarter of 2025. However, Lilly also boasts a wide range of products that serve other therapeutic areas, such as neuroscience, oncology and immunology — all high-growth areas and representing significant commercial potential.
Some key growth products include the oncology drug Verzenio and immunology drug Taltz, which accounted for 9% and 6% of total first-quarter sales, respectively. Sales of these blockbuster medications are being driven by increased demand — Taltz sales rose 26% year over year during the quarter, while Verzenio sales jumped 10%. Over the past couple of years, LLY’s new drugs — including Omvoh and Ebglyss in immunology, Jaypirca in oncology and Kisunla in neuroscience — have all been contributing to its top-line growth. Lilly expects the potential launch of new medicines like imlunestrant for metastatic breast cancer to contribute to growth in 2025.
Though Lilly’s non-obesity portfolio is contributing meaningfully, investor focus largely remains on the GLP-1 products. All eyes would be on the magnitude of their sequential growth and market share gains in the upcoming second-quarter results. Our model estimates sales at around $4.46 billion for Mounjaro and $3.09 billion for Zepbound in the to-be-reported quarter.
Big Pharma Diversifies Beyond Flagship Drugs
While Lilly’s non-obesity portfolio is gaining traction, peers like AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) and Merck (MRK - Free Report) are also broadening their therapeutic reach beyond core revenue drivers.
AbbVie, which already markets multiple flagship immunology drugs — Humira, Rinvoq and Skyrizi — is expanding its presence in oncology and neuroscience. In recent years, ABBV has added Epkinly, Elahere and most recently, Emrelis, bringing its total oncology therapies to five. Growth in its neuroscience segment has also been supported by increasing uptake of its migraine drugs, Ubrelvy and Qulipta.
Merck, whose flagship oncology drug Keytruda accounts for nearly half of its total revenues, is expanding its late-stage pipeline to reduce dependence on the product. We believe new products like Capvaxive (pneumococcal vaccine) and Winrevair (PAH drug) have the potential to generate significant revenues over the long term. Merck recently secured the FDA’s approval for long-acting RSV antibody Enflonsia for newborns, which is expected to launch later this month.
LLY’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Lilly have outperformed the industry year to date, as seen in the chart below.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Eli Lilly is expensive. Based on the price/earnings (P/E) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 29.45 times forward earnings, higher than its industry’s average of 15.04. However, the stock is trading below its five-year mean of 34.54.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimates for Lilly’s 2025 EPS have declined from $22.23 to $21.95 in the past 60 days, and EPS estimates for 2026 have increased from $30.89 to $30.91 over the same timeframe.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Eli Lilly currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.