Eli Lilly forecasts 2019 profit, revenue above estimates
Drugmaker Eli Lilly on Wednesday forecast 2019 revenue and adjusted profit above analysts' expectations, citing higher demand for newer medicines including diabetes drug Trulicity and psoriasis drug Taltz.
Trulicity, which recently overtook Humalog as Lilly's top-selling medicine, had sales of $816.2 million and helped power Lilly's profit beat in the third quarter.
The company forecast 2019 adjusted profit of $5.90 to $6 per share, compared with average analysts' estimates of $5.82 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitv.
Lilly said revenue was expected to be between $25.3 billion and $25.8 billion for the coming year, also above analysts' expectations of $24.43 billion.
However, the drugmaker said sales of erectile dysfunction drug Cialis will take a hit due to loss of patent exclusivity.
The Indianapolis-based company also reiterated its forecast for 2018 adjusted profit.
Shares of the drugmaker, which raised its quarterly dividend by 15 percent, were up 1 pct at $107.60 in light premarket trading.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)