Eli Lilly Meets Earnings Forecasts, Sticks To 2016 Guidelines

Eli Lilly & Co on Thursday reported adjusted earnings that met Wall Street's forecast, though revenue fell slightly short. For the fourth quarter, the pharmaceutical group said it earned 45 cents a share, against 40 cents in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 78 cents against 82 cents a year ago, meeting forecasts from analysts polled by FactSet Research. Revenue rose to $5.375 billion versus $5.121 billion in the year-ago period, which fell slightly shy of expectations for revenue of $5.325 billion. For 2016, the company said it is expecting earnings per share in a range of $2.83 to $2.93, and still expects adjusted earnings in a range of $3.45 to $3.55 per share. The company stuck with a revenue forecast for 2016 of between $20.2 billion and $20.7 billion.