Eli Lilly Tops Profit Targets, But Sales Fall a Bit Shy

Eli Lilly reported on Friday a fourth-quarter adjusted profit that rose to $797.6 million, or 75 cents a share, from $796.9 million, or 74 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. That beat the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of 73 cents a share. Sales fell 12% to $5.12 billion, just shy of analyst forecasts of $5.19 billion, weighed by the impact of patent expirations and the negative impact of currency moves. The drug giant affirmed its 2015 profit outlook. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 8% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has advanced 1.3%.