Eli Lilly sold $16.1 billion of its two tirzepatide drugs, Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss, from July through September, and raised its sales forecast for the year by $5.5 billion at the midpoint. Total revenue rose 39% to $24.4 billion, according to the third-quarter results Lilly filed with the SEC on Thursday, October 29.
The drugs behind the growth
| Product | July to Sept. 2026 | Change from a year earlier | April to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mounjaro | $10.7 billion | Up 65% | $9.9 billion |
| Zepbound | $5.4 billion | Up 49% | $4.9 billion |
| Foundayo (pill) | $184 million | New | $98 million |
Mounjaro brought in $5.0 billion in the U.S. and $5.7 billion abroad, where sales nearly doubled. Zepbound is sold under that name only in the U.S., Canada and Japan. Foundayo, Lilly's oral GLP-1 pill, nearly doubled its sales from the April through June quarter.
Prices are falling while volume climbs
U.S. volume rose 41% while the prices Lilly actually collected fell 7%, and the company says Zepbound drove most of that decline. Outside the U.S., prices fell 29%, mainly because Mounjaro was added to China's National Reimbursement Drug List.
The release does not say what patients pay at the pharmacy.
Profit and outlook
Earnings rose 16% to $7.22 a share. That figure absorbed $4.57 a share of charges for research Lilly bought through acquisitions, mainly of AtaiBeckley, which is developing treatments for depression, and Curevo. Revenue also included about $900 million of benefits, mainly $410 million in final milestone payments tied to the diabetes drug Jardiance and favorable adjustments to rebate and discount estimates.
Lilly now expects 2026 revenue of $91 billion to $92 billion, up from the $85 billion to $87 billion it forecast in August.
The release also lists recent news on retatrutide, the experimental drug that beat Ozempic in a head-to-head diabetes trial Edit USA covered on October 28. Retatrutide is not approved, and Lilly has urged websites, payment processors and regulators to close what it calls an illegal black market for the drug.
