Eli Lilly stock plunges toward its worst day since 2000 on disappointing earnings and Zepbound sales

Shares of Eli Lilly fell about 14% within 15 minutes of the market open, tumbling toward the stock's worst daily percentage decline since its 31% loss on August 9, 2000 and the third-worst day for the company since July 1972.

Wednesday's plunge came as Eli Lilly's results, released around 7 a.m. EDT, were overall worse than analyst expectations, led by third-quarter sales of $11.4 billion (5% below forecasts of $12.1 billion US dollars, according to FactSet) and earnings per share of $1.18 (23% below forecasts of $1.45).

Key to the disappointing results were weaker-than-expected sales of Eli Lilly's GLP-1 drug tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand names Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss.

Mounjaro's revenue was $3.11 billion in the most recent quarter, well below estimates of $3.77 billion. Zepbound's revenue of $1.26 billion came in below estimates of $1.73 billion, a disappointment of more than 20% for the company's GLP-1 grade.

And perhaps more crucially for investors, Eli Lilly shared its forecast for full-year results that came in below Wall Street's consensus as the company's forecast revenue of $45.4 billion to $46 billion in 2024 fell short It fell short of average forecasts of $46.2 billion and adjusted its median forecast of $13.27. Earnings per share fell short of estimates of $13.42.