Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) shares jumped 4% to $1,344 in premarket trading Thursday after the drugmaker beat third-quarter forecasts and raised its full-year revenue outlook. The stock closed Wednesday's session at $1,288.30.

In results released before the opening bell, the company reported adjusted earnings of $7.48 per share, well above the $5.68 expected by analysts tracked by FactSet and the $5.60 consensus compiled by Investing.com. Revenue climbed 39% year over year to $24.4 billion, exceeding Wall Street forecasts that ranged from $22.42 billion to $22.58 billion depending on the source. Estimates compiled by Wall St Engine put consensus revenue at $22.61 billion — a mark that was also comfortably cleared.

Adjusted earnings per share rose 7% from a year earlier, and the company posted a gross margin of 84.4%, according to figures highlighted by the market data provider.

Wall St Engine summarized the results in an X post published Thursday:

ELI LILLY $LLY Q3'26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS 🔹 Revenue: $24.4B (Est. $22.61B) 🟢; +39% YoY 🔹 Adj. EPS: $7.48; +7% YoY 🔹 Gross Margin: 84.4% 🔹 Mounjaro Revenue: $10.7B; +65% YoY FY26 Guide: 🔹 Revenue: $91.0B-$92.0B (Est. $88.85B) 🟢; from $85B-$87B 🔹 EPS: $35.00-$36.00; from… pic.twitter.com/jLWvNCmsdO

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) October 29, 2026

Strong GLP-1 Sales Power the Beat

Mounjaro, approved for Type 2 diabetes, remained Eli Lilly's top-selling product with revenue of $10.7 billion, up 65% year over year and ahead of the $9.95 billion analysts had projected. Zepbound, which uses the same active ingredient and is approved for chronic weight management, generated $5.3 billion, topping the $5.02 billion estimate. GLP-1 medications, originally developed to treat diabetes, have become one of the fastest-growing categories in the pharmaceutical industry. Together, the two products accounted for roughly $16 billion of the quarter's sales, making the GLP-1 franchise the clear engine of the company's growth. Novo Nordisk, which markets the GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, is the category's other major player.

Guidance Moves Higher

Lilly raised its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $91 billion to $92 billion, up from its previous outlook of $85 billion to $87 billion. Analysts had been looking for $88.8 billion, meaning the new range sits above that mark — a substantial step up within a single quarter. Measured at the midpoints, the revision adds roughly $5.5 billion to the company's expected full-year revenue.

Chief Executive David Ricks pointed to continued demand for the company's GLP-1 medications and cited "expanded U.S. coverage for obesity care" as a supporting factor. Broader insurance coverage for obesity care widens the pool of patients who can access weight-management treatments such as Zepbound through their health plans.

There was one softer spot in the report. Lilly trimmed its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to $35 to $36 per share, down from the prior range of $35.50 to $36.50. The company attributed the reduction to third-quarter spending on its drug pipeline and assets in development. Pipeline spending is a common feature of the pharmaceutical industry, where research investment weighs on near-term earnings while funding drugs still in development. The trim amounts to $0.50 at each end of the range. Even so, the revised range remains above the analyst consensus of $34.46.

Stock Performance and Analyst Revisions

The stock had already been on a strong run heading into the release, despite a mixed revision trend among analysts. It is up 12% over the past three months and 53% over the past year.

Lilly saw 4 positive EPS revisions against 13 negative ones over the last 90 days. That backdrop made the quarter's beat look even sharper against where expectations stood, and analysts were expected to be busy updating their models on Thursday.

Fellow drugmaker Merck (MRK) also reported results before the opening bell on Thursday, with its stock up 2% in premarket trading.

According to InvestingPro, Lilly's financial health score is "great performance." Regular trading opens later Thursday morning, when the premarket gain will face its first test of the regular session. Premarket sessions typically carry lighter volume than the regular hours that follow, so early moves can look different once the full market is open.