Eli Lilly Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Eli Lilly (NYS: LLY) reported earnings on Jan. 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Eli Lilly beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank slightly and GAAP earnings per share contracted.


Gross margins increased, operating margins contracted, net margins dropped.

Revenue details
 Eli Lilly logged revenue of $5.96 billion. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see net sales of $5.82 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 1.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $6.05 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.85. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.79 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.74 for Q4 were 3.9% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.77 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 79.0%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.9%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 13.9%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $5.66 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.98.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $22.91 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.83.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,259 members out of 1,355 rating the stock outperform, and 96 members rating it underperform. Among 435 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 411 give Eli Lilly a green thumbs-up, and 24 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Eli Lilly is hold, with an average price target of $51.97.

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The article Eli Lilly Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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