BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: ELI LILLY & NOVO NORDISK

Big Pharma Giants Smash Second Quarter Earnings After Price Hikes Across Their Portfolios to Start the Year

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk closed out Big Pharma earnings for the second quarter by reporting earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, continuing a pattern of strong financial performance across the pharmaceutical sector. Both companies have repeatedly raised prices across their portfolios in recent years, even as their blockbuster drugs continue to generate billions of dollars in annual sales.

Get a full recap of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s strong second quarter earnings below.

Eli Lilly

• Eli Lilly reported strong second quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations.
• The pharmaceutical company reported $22.97 billion in revenue for the second quarter.
• The Big Pharma giant’s GLP-1 drug Mounjaro brought in sales of $9.94 billion, while obesity drug Zepbound generated $4.93 billion.
• The company raised its 2026 revenue expectancy to between $85 ​billion to $87 billion.

Novo Nordisk

• Novo Nordisk beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations for the second quarter.
• The Big Pharma giant’s second quarter earnings rose to $12.1 billion.
• Novo Nordisk reported $497 million in second quarter sales from the pill version of its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy.

These companies’ strong second quarter earnings come after both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have engaged in price hikes across their portfolios in recent years, including earlier this year.

Eli Lilly

• In 2026, Eli Lilly has hiked the price of 13 prescription drugs, including GLP-1 drug Mounjaro by three percent.
• Eli Lilly increased the price of 13 prescription drugs in 2025, including blockbuster GLP-1 drug Zepbound, by 2.5 percent. 
• Eli Lilly hiked prices on eight prescription drugs in 2024, including oncology drug Verzenio by six percent, as well as blockbuster diabetes drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro by five percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
• In 2023, Eli Lilly raised the price of 12 prescription drugs, including blockbuster diabetes drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro, both by five percent. Eli Lilly also hiked the price of its best-selling oncology drug, Verzenio, by 5.5 percent.

Novo Nordisk

• So far in 2026, Novo Nordisk has hiked the price of five prescription drugs.
• In 2025, Novo Nordisk increased the cost of 12 prescription drugs at an average rate of 4.7 percent.
• Novo Nordisk hiked prices on five prescription drugs in 2024, including a 3.5 percent increase on their blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic.
• In 2023, Novo Nordisk hiked prices on 11 prescription drugs, including a 4.9 percent increase on their GLP-1 drug Ozempic.

Read more on second quarter earnings from Amgen, Merck, Gilead and Pfizer HERE.

Read more on second quarter earnings from Sanofi, Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie HERE.

Read more on second quarter earnings from AstraZeneca and GSK HERE.

Read more on second quarter earnings from Novartis and Roche HERE.

Read more on second quarter earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE.

Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.