Big Pharma Companies Beat Wall Street Earnings Expectations Amid Bonanza of
Drug Price Hikes





 



BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: ABBVIE, NOVARTIS, GSK AND ELI LILLY

Big Pharma Companies Beat Wall Street Earnings Expectations Amid Bonanza of
Drug Price Hikes



Several Big Pharma giants — including AbbVie, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and
Eli Lilly — reported soaring fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings last
week, continuing a pattern of raking in massive profits after drug price hikes
on American patients. Together, these four pharmaceutical companies have
increased prices on more than 100 brand name drugs so far in 2026. Despite
repeated promises to prioritize affordability, Big Pharma is once again
delivering outsized returns to shareholders while hiking prices and blocking
competition from more affordable alternatives to keep drug prices high.



AbbVie, Novartis, GSK and Eli Lilly each exceeded Wall Street earnings
expectations, citing blockbuster sales from high-priced products. The
record-breaking earnings and optimistic forecasts come even as millions of
Americans continue to face challenges affording their medications — an outcome
driven by Big Pharma’s anti-competitive tactics and egregious pricing practices.



After hiking prices on 48 prescription drugs to kick off 2026, Novartis
promptly announced it had blown past its 40 percent core margin targettwo years
ahead of schedule
<[link removed]>
and would use its record cash flow to enrich shareholders through dividends
and stock buybacks — not lower prices for patients. “This robust cash flow
allows us to reinvest in the business, pursue bolt-on acquisitions and continue
to return attractive capital to the shareholders through growing dividend and
share buybacks,” said Novartis Chief Financial Officer Harry Kirsch.



Novartis isn’t the only pharma giant celebrating strong financials while
American patients face higher drug prices. AbbVie’s business model for its new
blockbusters is clear: win the first approval, then layer on lucrative new
indications (and patents) to maximize exclusivity in the market. As CEO Robert
Michaeltold
<[link removed]>
investors, “Obviously, the combined guidance for this year is already $500
million higher than our 2027 estimate, and we do expect both Skyrizi and Rinvoq
to grow robustly into the 2030s. And clearly, as we look at models, you know,
that longer-term growth is not reflected. And so, we do think on a longer-term
basis, there’s clearly more upside to Skyrizi and Rinvoq. And then when you
consider, you know, things like the market growth projections, we'll gain
share, along with the next wave of Rinvoq indications.”



Previewing the quarterly earnings release, Eli Lilly also highlighted its
blockbuster growth after hiking the price of 12 prescription drugs in 2026,
including GLP-1 drug Mounjaro by three percent. Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told
CNBC’s Squawk Box
<[link removed]>
, “Total GLP-1s, incretins, grew over 40 percent or nearly 40 percent on the
year, and more than we expected, I think… Q4 margins were 47 percent operating
margin, and we’re growing over 40 percent. There’s only a couple of companies
in the entire S&P 500 with 40 percent top line and 40 percent margin. We’re one
of them. Nvidia is another 40-40.”



Get the full recap of AbbVie, Novartis, GSK and Eli Lilly’s strong earnings,
fueled by blocking competition and hiking prices:



AbbVie

* AbbVie’s fourth quarter earnings beat
<[link removed]>
Wall Street expectations, posting$16.62 billion
<[link removed]>
in Q4 revenue, up10 percent
<[link removed]>
year-over-year.
* The company reported all-time record revenue in 2025 of $61.2 billion
<[link removed]>.
* Skyrizi saw Q4 sales of $5 billion, up 32.5 percent
<[link removed]>
, while Rinvoq had sales of $2.4 billion, up29.5 percent
<[link removed]>
.
* The blockbuster drug Humira brought in $1.2 billion, beating consensus
estimates by29 percent
<[link removed]>
.
Novartis

* Novartis saw better-than-expected
<[link removed]>
fourth quarter earnings, beating analysts’ expectations.
* The company’s breast cancer drug, Kisqali, saw full-year sales surge 57
percent
<[link removed]>
to $6.17 billion, with peak sales projected to top$10 billion
<[link removed]>
.
* Sales for psoriasis drug Cosentyx grew 11 percent
<[link removed]>
in Q4, with full-year sales reaching $6.7 billion.
* Due to their strong Q4 performance, Novartis expects sales to grow five to
six percent
<[link removed]>
annually through 2030.
GSK

* GSK reported fourth quarter earnings that smashed
<[link removed]>
Wall Street analysts’ expectations, resulting in a26-year stock high
<[link removed]>
for the company.
* Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus earnings
estimatesfour times
<[link removed]>.
* The company posted Q4 sales of $11.46 billion
<[link removed]>
and full-year 2025 sales of$44.75 billion
<[link removed]>
for its specialty medicines division, with “double-digit percentage growth in
its immunology and inflammation, oncology and HIV portfolios throughout the
year.”
* The company reaffirmed
<[link removed]>
its earnings forecast for 2026 after its specialty medicines business lifted
sales in Q4.
Eli Lilly

* Eli Lilly reported strong earnings, “blow[ing] past quarterly estimates
<[link removed].>
.”
* The pharmaceutical company reported a 43 percent
<[link removed].>
increase in revenue, totaling $19.29 billion, compared to expectations of
$17.96 billion.
* The Big Pharma giant’s GLP-1 drug Mounjaro delivered revenue of $7.4 billion

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, up 110 percent year over year, while Zepbound drove $4.3 billion in revenue
in the quarter, up 123 percent year over year.
* The company raised its 2026 revenue expectancy to between $80 billion and
$83 billion
<[link removed]>
.
The strong earnings reports from these four Big Pharma giants follow their
consistent strategy of hiking prices on blockbuster drugs across each company’s
portfolios.



AbbVie

* AbbVie has hiked the price of 17 prescription drugs
<[link removed]> so far in 2026.
* In 2025, AbbVie hiked prices on 17 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>, including Skyrizi by 4.1
percent and Rinvoq by five percent.
* AbbVie increased prices on 18 prescription drugs in 2024
<[link removed]>, including a 4.5 percent price
increase on Skyrizi and a five percent increase on Rinvoq.
* AbbVie hiked prices on 15 prescription drugs
<[link removed]> in January 2023, including an
eight percent <[link removed]> increase on
blockbuster autoimmune drug Rinvoq.
* In 2022, AbbVie increased prices on more than 10 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>.
Novartis

* In January 2026, Novartis hiked the price of 48 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>.
* In 2025, Novartis increased prices on 64 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>, including Entresto by 2.5
percent <[link removed]> and Kesimpta by seven
percent <[link removed]>.
* Novartis increased prices on 68 prescription drugs
<[link removed]> in its portfolio in 2024,
including arthritis treatment Cosentyx byfour percent
<[link removed]> and heart treatment Entresto by
three percent <[link removed]>.
* In 2023, Novartis hiked prices on more than 70 prescription drugs
<[link removed]> in its portfolio, including
Entresto byfive percent <[link removed]> and
Kesimpta byseven percent <[link removed]>.
GSK

* So far this year, GSK has hiked the price of 28 prescription drugs
<[link removed]> by an average of 3.3 percent.
* Last year, GSK raised prices on 36 drugs
<[link removed]>, including an 8.9 percent
<[link removed]> increase on its Shingrix
vaccine.
* In 2024, GSK hiked prices on more than 29 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>, including its blockbuster
Shingrix vaccine product by7.9 percent
<[link removed]> and asthma drug Trelegy by
three percent <[link removed]>.
* In 2023, GSK hiked prices on more than 35 drugs
<[link removed]>, and in 2022, it increased
prices on over40 drugs <[link removed]>.
Eli Lilly

* In 2026, Eli Lilly hiked the price of 12 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>, including GLP-1 drug Mounjaro
bythree percent <[link removed]>.
* Eli Lilly began 2025 by increasing prices on 12 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>, including blockbuster GLP-1
drug Zepbound, by2.5 percent <[link removed]>.
* Eli Lilly hiked prices on eight prescription drugs
<[link removed]> in 2024, including oncology
drug Verzenio bysix percent <[link removed]>, as
well as blockbuster diabetes drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro byfive percent
<[link removed]>and 4.5 percent
<[link removed]>, respectively.
* Eli Lilly started 2023 by raising prices on 12 prescription drugs
<[link removed]>, including blockbuster diabetes
drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro, both byfive percent
<[link removed]>. Eli Lilly also hiked the price
of its best-selling oncology drug, Verzenio, by5.5 percent
<[link removed]>.


Stay tuned as we continue to monitor fourth quarter earnings calls from brand
name drug companies in the coming weeks.



Read more on Q4 earnings from Pfizer and Merck HERE
<[link removed]>.



Read more on Q4 earnings from Sanofi HERE
<[link removed]>.



Read more on Q4 earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE
<[link removed]>.



Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big
Pharma accountableHERE <[link removed]>.



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