Markets
Novo Raised Its Outlook as the Wegovy Pill Beat Forecasts
Novo Nordisk raised its 2026 outlook to sales growth of −2% to +2% at constant exchange rates after Wegovy pill sales reached 5.4 billion kroner, above the 4.5 billion expected.
Novo Nordisk beat forecasts on almost every line that matters to investors. Sales were 79.2 billion Danish kroner, about $11.9 billion, up 4% at constant exchange rates and above the 73.6 billion kroner FactSet consensus. Adjusted operating profit rose 27% at constant rates to 31.7 billion kroner, against 28.6 billion expected. On a reported basis operating profit fell 9%, because of 8.7 billion kroner of non-cash impairment charges.
The Wegovy pill did most of the work. Sales of the oral version of its obesity drug reached 5.4 billion kroner, against roughly 4.5 billion expected by analysts, with about 3.6 million prescriptions written in the quarter and more than 8 million since launch. The older products were mixed: injectable Wegovy brought in 20.4 billion kroner, but its US sales fell 13% at constant rates, and Ozempic slipped 5% to 29.7 billion kroner.
The company raised its outlook again, after an earlier upgrade in August. It now expects adjusted sales and operating profit to change by between −2% and +2% at constant exchange rates in 2026, up from a range of −6% to flat, and attributed the change to higher expectations for its GLP-1 products. Chief executive Mike Doustdar was careful with the message: "Turnaround and recovery is not done based on one data point, on one quarterly good result," he told reporters. The company also said chief financial officer Karsten Munk Knudsen will leave at the end of 2026, to be succeeded by Luigi La Corte, currently CFO of Galderma.
The shares rose as much as 6% in Copenhagen and were last seen up 3.4%, leaving them about 13% lower for the year; the US-listed shares closed 5% higher at $42.18. Not everyone was persuaded. Citi kept a neutral rating, citing uncertainty about the prices weight-loss drugs will command in the near, medium and long term and the lack of a clear successor to Wegovy in the pipeline. In September the stock had fallen nearly 8% in a single session.
The gap between a 4% rise in sales and a 27% rise in adjusted operating profit is the figure to watch. Part of it is operating leverage from a new product with high margins, and part is the cost cutting Novo began last year; the next two quarters will show how much of each. A pill that grows fast enough to offset falling injectable prices would make the raised range conservative. One that plateaus would leave the company back where it started the year, defending a shrinking franchise.