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Eli Lilly and Co., boosted by strong sales of diabetes drug Trulicity and psoriasis therapy Taltz, reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.5 billion on Thursday, topping market expectations.
The Indianapolis-based company said it had a profit of $1.64 per share. The earnings rose 33% from a year earlier, when the company took a $329.4 million charge.
Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.73 per share. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.52 per share.
Lilly reported revenue of $6.11 billion in the period, up 8.5% over the same quarter of 2018, and topping expectations of $5.91 billion.
The company said the increase in revenue was driven by a 10% increase due to volume offset slightly by a 1% decrease in realized prices.
Trulicity sales increased 31%, to $1.2 billion, topping expectations of $1.15 billion. The company’s next-best selling drug was Humalog, at $763.4 million, down 1%.
Taltz sales jumped 37%, to $420 million, also beating estimates.
For the year, the company reported profit of $8.32 billion, or $8.89 per share. Revenue was reported as $22.32 billion.
Lilly expects full-year earnings in the range of $6.70 to $6.80 per share, with revenue in the range of $23.7 billion to $24.2 billion.
“Lilly is in the early phase of an exciting period of growth for the company,” said CEO David Ricks in written comments. “The combination of strong revenue growth from our newer medicines and prudent expense control across our business enabled Lilly to invest more in our R&D pipeline and still deliver impressive earnings growth in the fourth quarter and full-year 2019.”
Lilly shares climbed 2% Thursday morning, to $142.73 each, amid an overall market decline.
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