Eli Lilly & Co. shares slid 5% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the drug company posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and offered guidance that is below consensus. The company posted net income of $1.355 billion, or $1.49 a share, in the quarter, down 7% from $1.457 billion, or $1.60 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.87, below the $2.12 FactSet consensus. Revenue rose 16% to $6.806 billion from $5.859 billion, also below the FactSet consensus of $6.932 billion. Operating costs rose 11% to $3.261 billion, driven by about $220 million of R&D costs relating to COVID-19 antibody therapies. The company also recognized asset impairment, restructuring and other special charges of $211.6 million, stemming from the decision to sell the rights to Qbrexza, and integration costs relating to the acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics Inc. The company updated its full-year guidance, and now expects adjusted EPS to range from $7.80 to $8.00 and for revenue to range from $26.6 billion to $27.6 billion. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $8.24 and revenue of $27.7 billion. Shares have gained 10.9% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.5%.
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