Eli Lilly ripped off the bandage when it reported preliminary fourth-quarter results in mid-January, getting the bad news out of the way early. On Thursday morning, when the company formally released its fourth-quarter report,

Eli Lilly ( LLY 3.89%) stock inched 2.5% higher through 9:50 a.m. ET Thursday after beating on the top and bottom lines in this morning's Q4 earnings report. Heading into the report, analysts forecast Lilly would earn $5.08 per share on sales of $13.4 billion. As it turns out, Lilly earned $5.32 per share in Q4, and sales were $13.5 billion.

Eli Lilly stock is higher Thursday after the pharma giant beat fourth-quarter profit expectations and issued strong 2025 guidance. Here's what you need to know.