Eli Lilly Swings To Loss On Higher Sales, Cuts 2017 EPS View

Eli Lilly & Co. on Tuesday said it swung to a quarterly net loss, but adjusted earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. The drug maker swung to a first-quarter loss of $110.8 million, or 10 cents a share, stemming from Lilly's purchase of CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc., which closed in March. On an adjusted basis, per-share earnings were 98 cents a share, above the 96 cents a share expected in a FactSet survey of analysts. Revenue for the period rose to $5.23 billion from $4.87 billion. Wall Street anticipated sales of $5.215 billion. Lilly lowered its 2017 net earnings forecast to $2.60 to $2.70 a share, citing severance costs. It previously forecast earnings of $2.69 to $2.79 a share.