Eli Lilly shares dip, despite beating forecasts, as 2019 outlook cut

Shares of US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) dropped nearly 3% in pre-market trading today, after the company announced 2018 financials but also reduced its 2019 outlook following a trial failure and anticipation of the cost of its planned $8 billion acquisition of Loxo Oncology.

Lilly announced that sales for the fourth quarter of 2018 rose 4.5% to $6.44 billion, boosted by strong demand for new drugs such as diabetes treatment Trulicity (dulaglutide). The company also reported a profit of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to a loss of $1.66 billion in the year earlier period. Stripping out one-off gains, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $1.33 per share. Analysts had expected adjusted EPS of $1.34 on sales of $6.2 billion.

Full-year 2018 revenue increased 7 to $24.556 billion. Full-year 2018 EPS grew to $3.13 on a reported basis and $5.55 on a non-generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis.