In plain words
Eli Lilly makes Mounjaro and Zepbound, the tirzepatide injections for diabetes and weight loss. In the third quarter, its sales rose 39% to $24.4 billion. It sold 53% more medicine by volume, even though the prices it actually received fell 15%. Lilly raised its full-year sales forecast by $5.5 billion at the midpoint, to $91–92 billion. Its full-year earnings forecast went slightly down. The cause is a one-time accounting charge for buying other drug companies, not a weaker business.
The finding
The Editor's view: volume is overwhelming price, and Lilly told the call it expects the same next year, per Benzinga's machine-generated transcript. A 15% drop in realized prices is a steep headwind. At Lilly, it was swamped by 53% volume growth, and gross margin still rose, to 83.9%. In the Editor's view, the headline EPS cut is a deal-accounting artefact. Underlying non-GAAP EPS guidance went up by $4.07 at the midpoint. Then $4.57 per share of acquired-R&D charges more than offset it.
For educational purposes only; not investment advice.