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 target two years ahead of schedule 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 Michael told 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, “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 Wall Street expectations, posting $16.62 billion in Q4 revenue, up 10 percent year-over-year.
- The company reported all-time record revenue in 2025 of $61.2 billion.
- Skyrizi saw Q4 sales of $5 billion, up 32.5 percent, while Rinvoq had sales of $2.4 billion, up 29.5 percent.
- The blockbuster drug Humira brought in $1.2 billion, beating consensus estimates by 29 percent.
Novartis - Novartis saw better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, beating analysts’ expectations.
- The company’s breast cancer drug, Kisqali, saw full-year sales surge 57 percent to $6.17 billion, with peak sales projected to top $10 billion.
- Sales for psoriasis drug Cosentyx grew 11 percent 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 annually through 2030.
GSK - GSK reported fourth quarter earnings that smashed Wall Street analysts’ expectations, resulting in a 26-year stock high for the company.
- Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus earnings estimates four times.
- The company posted Q4 sales of $11.46 billion and full-year 2025 sales of $44.75 billion 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 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.”
- The pharmaceutical company reported a 43 percent 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, 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.
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 Novartis GSK Eli Lilly - In 2026, Eli Lilly hiked the price of 12 prescription drugs, including GLP-1 drug Mounjaro by three percent.
- Eli Lilly began 2025 by increasing prices on 12 prescription drugs, including blockbuster GLP-1 drug Zepbound, by 2.5 percent.
- Eli Lilly hiked prices on eight prescription drugs in 2024, including oncology drug Verzenio by six percent, as well as blockbuster diabetes drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro by five percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
- Eli Lilly started 2023 by raising prices on 12 prescription drugs, including blockbuster diabetes drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro, both by five percent. Eli Lilly also hiked the price of its best-selling oncology drug, Verzenio, by 5.5 percent.
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. Read more on Q4 earnings from Sanofi HERE. Read more on Q4 earnings from Johnson & Johnson HERE. Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE. ### |
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