Eli Lilly Shares Drop After Missing Q1 Earnings On Lower COVID-19 Drug Demand; 2021 Guidance Lagging Consensus - Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY)

Eli Lilly And Co LLY posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and cut its forecast for full-year adjusted profit due to lower demand for its COVID-19 drugs.
The company posted net income of $1.35 billion, or $1.49 a share, in the quarter, down 7% from $1.457 billion, or $1.60 a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.87 missed the consensus of $2.14. Revenue rose 16% to $6.8 billion, below the estimate of $7 billion.
It recognized revenue of $810.1 million in the first quarter of 2021 for its COVID-19 antibodies.
The company also recognized asset impairment, restructuring, and other special charges of $211.6 million, stemming from the sale of the rights to Qbrexza and integration costs relating to the acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics Inc.
Lilly updated its full-year guidance and expects the adjusted EPS to range from $7.80 to $8.00, down from its prior forecast of $7.75 to $8.40 per share, and well below the consensus estimate of $8.32.
The company sees 2021 revenue in the range of $26.6 billion to $27.6 billion, including an estimated $1 billion to $1.5 billion of revenue from COVID-19 therapies.
The U.S. government has stopped distributing Lilly's COVID-19 antibody-drug, bamlanivimab, as a standalone treatment therapy last month in response to new variants in the country that could be resistant to bamlanivimab when used alone.
Lilly said it would focus on combining bamlanivimab and its other COVID-19 antibody-drug etesevimab, which has been shown to neutralize more COVID-19 variants than bamlanivimab alone.
Price Action: LLY shares are trading 3.08% lower at $181.45 in the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.

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