Lilly and Merck raise outlooks as Bayer wins Roundup trial

what happened

Seeking Alpha reports that US stock indexes ended the week lower, with the S&P 500 down 1.82%, the Nasdaq Composite off 2.86%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 1.09%. Investors sold technology shares after a run of disappointing earnings. Health care was the exception: the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index rose 3.08%, with Regeneron, Eli Lilly and Moderna among the biggest gainers.

Eli Lilly beat forecasts in the third quarter, reporting non-GAAP earnings of $7.48 per share, $0.87 above estimates, and revenue up 38.6% to $24.4B. Mounjaro sales climbed 65% to $10.7B, while Zepbound brought in $5.35B. Lilly raised the midpoint of its 2026 revenue guidance by $5.5B, to a range of $91B to $92B. Merck also topped expectations, with non-GAAP earnings of $2.49 per share and revenue of $18.09B, and lifted its full-year profit outlook to $2.77 to $2.82 per share.

AstraZeneca posted core earnings of $2.79 per share against the $2.62 Bloomberg consensus and announced a three-year savings program targeting $1.5B in annual pretax savings. Separately, a Missouri jury found for Bayer in a cancer case over Roundup, its first such win since the Supreme Court's Durnell ruling, and HealthSpan Partners agreed to buy Surgery Partners for $5.7B in cash.

why it matters

The news matters because strong results from the largest drugmakers supported the sector while the broader US market fell on weakness in technology shares. The raised guidance from Lilly and Merck may keep investor attention on large pharmaceutical companies.

market impact

US pharma sector: strong results and raised forecasts support shares of the largest drugmakers

• ▲S&P 500 Health Care index pressure up — strong results and raised forecasts from large drugmakers supported the sector
• ▼Broad US market (S&P 500) pressure down — selling in technology shares after a series of weak earnings reports

tags

instruments