US-listed shares of Novo Nordisk fell more than 6% on Tuesday after the Danish drugmaker released its second-quarter financial results and updated its full-year outlook a day ahead of its scheduled earnings announcement, with investors focusing on softer-than-expected sales of its oral Wegovy weight-loss drug.
Novo Nordisk’s American depositary receipts declined despite the company narrowing the expected decline in its full-year sales and operating profit guidance.
The company now expects adjusted sales to range from down 6% to flat at constant exchange rates, compared with its previous forecast for a decline of 4% to 12%.
Novo also revised its adjusted operating profit outlook to a decline of up to 6% at constant exchange rates, an improvement from its earlier guidance.
However, the company warned that US sales are expected to decline due to current prescription trends for GLP-1 medicines, intensifying competition, reduced Medicaid coverage for obesity treatments and lower realized prices following its “most favored nation” pricing agreement with the Trump administration.
Wegovy pill sales fall slightly short of expectations
Novo Nordisk reported second-quarter adjusted sales of 78.49 billion Danish kroner, or about $12.1 billion, representing 7% growth at constant exchange rates.
Adjusted operating profit increased 11% to 33.39 billion kroner.
The company’s oral version of Wegovy generated 3.22 billion kroner in second-quarter sales, slightly below analysts’ expectations of 3.27 billion kroner, according to StreetAccount.
CEO Mike Doustdar highlighted the continued rollout of the treatment.
“The pill has now topped 5 million prescriptions since its launch in January,” Doustdar said in a statement Tuesday.
Doustdar also described Wegovy as “a key growth driver” for the company.
The oral formulation debuted in the United States in January and has since expanded into the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Competition remains in focus
Novo Nordisk continues to compete closely with Eli Lilly in the rapidly expanding GLP-1 market for obesity and diabetes treatments.
The launch of the Wegovy pill and a higher-dose injectable version has helped the company strengthen its position after Eli Lilly gained market share with its Zepbound and Mounjaro products.
Despite the earnings beat, some analysts said investors were looking for stronger sales from the oral treatment.
“We think the lack of upside for Wegovy pill vs. models has stock down,” Jared Holz, Mizuho Securities healthcare sector specialist, said in a CNBC report. “But in totality this is an improvement from earlier in the year in terms of trajectory.”
Investors await more details
Novo Nordisk’s earnings release comes just ahead of quarterly results from Eli Lilly, with investors closely watching both companies for signs of continued demand in the highly competitive GLP-1 market.
The company has also sought to diversify beyond obesity and diabetes treatments, although recent efforts have faced setbacks.
Last week, Novo’s shares fell after an experimental heart drug failed to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in a late-stage clinical trial.
For now, investor sentiment remains closely tied to the performance of Novo’s semaglutide franchise, with the latest results underscoring both the continued growth of Wegovy and the challenges posed by pricing pressure and intensifying competition in the US market.
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