Individuals stroll previous an indication for Novo Nordisk’s annual basic assembly on the entrance to the venue in Copenhagen, Denmark, March 26, 2026.
Tom Little | Reuters
Novo Nordisk hiked its annual revenue steering on Wednesday, because the drugmaker stated its Wegovy weight-loss tablet carried out higher than anticipated within the first three months of the 12 months, sending its shares sharply larger.
Novo hiked its 2026 full-year steering on the again of elevated expectations for GLP-1 product gross sales, saying it now expects adjusted gross sales and revenue to contract between 4% and 12% on a currency-adjusted foundation, an enchancment on the beforehand projected decline of between 5% and 13%.
The corporate’s shares rose 6.3% in morning buying and selling in Copenhagen, climbing down from earlier good points that noticed the inventory rise by greater than 8%.
Novo stated first-quarter gross sales jumped 32% on a continuing foreign money foundation to achieve 96.8 billion Danish kroner ($15.2 billion), whereas working revenue surged 65% to 59.6 billion kroner on a reported foundation.
On an adjusted foundation, gross sales nonetheless, fell 4% whereas income fell 6%.
Adjusted figures exclude a $4.2 billion non-recurring influence from a provision reversal associated to the 340B Drug Pricing Program within the U.S., Novo stated.
The quarter was the primary interval protecting gross sales of Novo’s oral weight reduction drug, the Wegovy tablet, within the U.S. Gross sales of the tablet amounted to 2.26 billion kroner, nicely above analyst estimates compiled by Reuters of 1.16 billion kroner.
Regardless of accounting for less than a fraction of complete gross sales, buyers are carefully watching the gross sales trajectory of the tablets, which is widening the marketplace for these medication.
In its earnings launch on Wednesday, Novo stated the Wegovy tablet, which noticed round 1.3 million prescriptions within the first three months of the 12 months.
“The numbers with the tablet communicate for themselves,” CEO Mike Doustdar instructed CNBC’s Charlotte Reed, highlighting that the product was nicely tolerated by sufferers.
Doustdar stated he was seeing gross sales of the tablet rising by double digits regardless of competitors from rival Eli Lilly’s weight problems tablet Foundayo that was launched within the U.S. in April.
Novo’s Wegovy model now instructions 65% of all new prescriptions within the U.S., Doustdar stated, calling it a “turnaround state of affairs.”
A priority for buyers has been the extent the introduction of oral options would hamper gross sales of the older, injectable merchandise.
However on “tablet versus a pen,” individuals are utilizing each, Doustdar stated. “It is having not cannibalizations, however a synergetic impact,” he stated.
Gross sales of its injectable Wegovy drug jumped 12% year-on-year to 18.2 billion kronor, falling barely in need of expectations compiled by LSEG.
In the meantime, gross sales of diabetes drug Ozempic fell by 8%, however got here in above expectations, based on LSEG.
The broader weight problems care class noticed adjusted fixed foreign money gross sales rise by 22%.
“The robust Wegovy efficiency, mixed with continued progress in Worldwide Operations, has led us to boost our 2026 steering for each adjusted gross sales and adjusted working revenue,” CEO Mike Doustdar stated in a press release alongside the outcomes.
Novo and its chief rival, Eli Lilly, have been locked in a fierce battle for market share within the profitable weight-loss market, which analysts see rising to $100 billion by the top of the last decade.
Lilly has overtaken Novo in the important thing U.S. marketplace for its injectable diabetes and weight reduction medication, which has been the main focus of their rivalry. Pharma corporations usually rely closely on the U.S., the place costs for branded medication are sometimes a number of occasions larger than elsewhere.
Lilly launched its personal weight reduction tablet, Foundayo, in early April.
Novo sells its GLP-1 drug, semaglutide, as Ozempic for kind 2 diabetes and Wegovy for weight reduction.
Lilly, in the meantime, final week posted gross sales progress for rival GLP-1 medication Mounjaro and Zepbound of 125% and 80%, respectively. It additionally hiked its full-year outlook on the again of the better-than-expected outcomes as complete income grew 56% within the quarter.
Wegovy tablet drives sentiment
Novo’s outcomes come as investor sentiment across the firm had slowly begun to recuperate following the launch of the Wegovy tablet within the U.S. in early January, which analysts hailed as “among the finest launches ever.”
Lilly CEO David Ricks instructed CNBC’s “Squawk Field” final week that the ramp-up of its tablet, Foundayo, was going to take “quarters, not days.” Prescriptions for the primary few weeks of Foundayo considerably lagged these of the Wegovy tablet within the comparable interval. As Foundayo, in contrast to Wegovy tablet, is a totally new medication, it should take time to construct the model, Ricks stated.
The early lead within the oral weight reduction market is a fine addition to Novo, which has confronted a sequence of setbacks over the previous 12 months, together with disappointing trial outcomes and monetary outlooks.
Buyers have additionally questioned the business viability of Novo’s pipeline, reminiscent of its next-generation drug CagriSema, which was proven to be inferior to Zepbound in Novo’s personal examine earlier this 12 months. The occasion prompted Novo inventory to shut at a brand new 5-year low.
Analysts have flagged difficulties in predicting prescriptions and gross sales of those weight reduction medication, as GLP-1s have come to be uniquely necessary within the direct-to-consumer channel, which till now, prescribed drugs hadn’t had a lot publicity to.
Whereas a head-to-head examine pitting the Wegovy tablet and Foundayo in opposition to one another has but to be performed, different trials have proven the previous to result in extra weight reduction on common.
