Eli Lilly stock gains after earnings rise above expectations, as COVID-19 antibodies revenue top $1 billion

Shares of Eli Lilly & Co.
LLY,
+1.03%
rose 0.4% in premarket trading Thursday, after the drug giant reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that rose above expectations, as COVID-19 antibodies revenue topped $1 billion, which was well above forecasts. Net income fell to $1.73 billion, or $1.90 a share, from $2.12 billion, or $2.32 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share rose to $2.49 from $2.31, above the FactSet consensus of $2.45. Revenue grew 7.5% to $8.00 billion, topping the FactSet consensus of $7.69 billion. Among Lilly’s best-selling products, Trulicity sales increased 25.4% to $1.88 billion to beat the FactSet consensus of $1.80 billion, and COVID-19 antibodies revenue rose 22.0% to $1.06 billion to top expectations of $691.0 million. For 2022, the company expects adjusted EPS of $8.50 to $8.65, compared with the FactSet consensus of $8.50, and revenue of $27.8 billion to $28.3 billion to surround expectations of $28.01 billion. The stock has dropped 5.8% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.94%
has slipped 0.9%.