Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Issues Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) issued an update on its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.330-0.36 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.350. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.3 billion-$1.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.3 billion. Elanco Animal Health also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 1.000-1.060 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ELAN. Piper Sandler raised shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.89.

Elanco Animal Health Trading Down 1.0%

ELAN opened at $24.72 on Tuesday. Elanco Animal Health has a 12-month low of $8.02 and a 12-month high of $26.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a PE ratio of 412.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.55.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 7.41%. Elanco Animal Health has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.330-0.36 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.060 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius acquired 10,000 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.30 per share, for a total transaction of $213,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 131,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,764.90. This trade represents a 8.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen bought 6,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.64 per share, with a total value of $150,398.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,402.12. The trade was a 5.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Elanco Animal Health News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Elanco Animal Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations: adjusted EPS of $0.13 beat consensus $0.11 and revenue of $1.14B topped estimates of $1.09B — signs of operational momentum. View Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: FY‑2026 targets show modest upside vs. street: revenue guidance $4.95B–$5.02B and adjusted EPS $1.00–$1.06 (midpoint roughly in line with consensus), with adjusted EBITDA growth and a raised innovation revenue target of $1.15B — suggests continued product execution and margin improvement. Elanco Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 2026 guidance of $0.330–$0.36 EPS is essentially in line with the $0.35 consensus but leaves little upside (lower bound below consensus) — near‑term results could be choppy. Guidance Details
• Neutral Sentiment: Street reception includes analyst support (e.g., BofA raised its price target to $28), which may limit downside if execution holds. Analyst Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary flags strategic bets (dermatology expansion) that could drive growth but add execution risk; watch pipeline updates and launch cadence. Market Commentary
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP results still show reported net losses (Q4 reported net loss $276M; full‑year net loss $232M), and the company continues to rely on adjusted metrics — investors may penalize the stock if GAAP improvement lags. GAAP vs Adjusted Details
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and leverage remain risk factors: the stock trades at a high P/E on adjusted earnings and net leverage (~3.6x) is elevated despite a guidance target to reduce it — leaves sensitivity to execution and interest‑rate/credit sentiment. No external link

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,080 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Elanco Animal Health by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Inc is a global leader in animal health dedicated to improving food and companion animal well-being. The company develops, manufactures and markets a range of products, including parasiticides, vaccines, antibiotics and feed additives designed to prevent and treat disease in livestock and pets. Elanco’s portfolio spans both food-producing animals—such as cattle, swine, poultry and aquaculture—and companion animals, with offerings that support parasite control, pain management and infectious disease prevention.

Originally founded as the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company in the mid-20th century, Elanco was spun off into an independent publicly traded company in 2018.