What’s News in Earnings: How Big Pharma Is Expanding the GLP-1 Market

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4.1 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bonus Episode for May 8. Financial results from pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie show strong demand continuing for weight-loss drugs and autoimmune treatments. Wall Street Journal pharma reporter Peter Loftus discusses which drugmakers have the upper hand in the race to dominate those markets. WSJ Heard on the Street columnist David Wainer hosts this special bonus episode of What's News in Earnings, where we dig into companies’ earnings reports and analyst calls to find out what’s going on under the hood of the American economy. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	How are the U.S. businesses of Philip Morris International invested in America?
0:05.0	We're invested in advancing science, giving adults who smoke better options.
0:10.0	We're invested in American manufacturing, helping local economies thrive.
0:15.0	We're invested in community, supporting military veterans and their families,
0:19.0	disaster relief, and economic empowerment.
0:22.5	Because we're proud to be invested in America. See how at uspMI.com.
0:33.5	Hey listeners, it's Friday, May 8th. I'm David Wainer for the Wall Street Journal, and this is
0:39.2	what's news in earnings. Our look at some of the biggest themes standing out this earning season.
0:44.7	The weight loss drug market is still growing faster than Wall Street expects.
0:49.3	Industry leader Eli Lilly last week reported results that blew past analyst estimates, and the company raised
0:55.2	its forecast for sales this year.
0:57.8	And that was mostly because of consumer demand for its GLP1 injections.
1:02.2	Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk said the prescriptions for its new Wagovi pill are off to a strong
1:07.2	start.
1:08.2	That showed that people around the world just can't get enough of weight
1:11.7	loss drugs, with growing demand for the pills as well as the injectables. Elsewhere in pharma,
1:18.5	companies are mostly delivering positive results, with Merck, Bristolmeyer Squibb, and Avi, all posting
1:24.1	earnings beats. But investors are still debating the durability of their long-term growth.
1:36.8	We're joined now by Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Loftus, who covers the pharmaceutical industry.
1:43.3	Peter, where do things stand on the whole pill versus pill battle?
1:47.0	Basically, Novo's oral Wagovi going up against Lillis Fondeo, is there a clear
1:52.0	winner emerging, or is it still too early to call?
	...

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