Novo Nordisk Shares Tumble On 2025 Earnings Miss, Weak Sales Forecast And Competition Concerns

• The company flagged concerns for the year including fierce competition, lower realized prices, and expiry of patent on the active ingredient in its best-selling Wegovy and Ozempic drugs in a few markets outside the U.S. 
• The updated guidance comes on the heels of the company reporting full-year 2025 net sales of DKK309.06 billion, below an analyst estimate of DKK346.97 billion.
• Novo’s sales from its diabetes segment remained more-or-less flat on a reported basis in 2025 at DKK207.11 billion while sales from its obesity segment increased 26% in Danish kroner to DKK82.35 billion.

Shares of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NVO) plummeted 14% on Tuesday after the company said that it sees fiscal 2026 adjusted sales down 5% to 13% as it gears up to face pricing headwinds and a competitive market.

The company flagged concerns for the year including fierce competition, lower realized prices, and expiry of patent on the active ingredient in its best-selling Wegovy and Ozempic drugs in a few markets outside the U.S.

Novo also sees adjusted operating profit fall as much as 13% in fiscal 2026 at constant exchange rates.

2025 Earnings

The updated guidance comes on the heels of the company reporting full-year 2025 net sales of DKK309.06 billion ($48.94 billion), up 6% year-over-year on a reported basis, but below an analyst estimate of DKK346.97 billion.

Diluted earnings per share for the year came in at DKK23.03, up from DKK22.63 in 2024, and below a Wall Street estimate of DKK23.4.

Operating profit, meanwhile, decreased by 1% in Danish kroner to DKK127.66billion.

Executive Take

CEO Mike Doustdar said that 2025 was a "challenging year” for the company.

“However, we are very encouraged by the promising early uptake from the US launch of Wegovy pill, and we remain confident in our ability to drive volume growth over the coming years,” Doustdar said.

“Also for this year, we look forward to regulatory decisions for next-generation treatments, such as Mim8 within haemophilia and CagriSema within obesity, as well as a number of exciting R&D read-outs, including phase 3 read-outs for etavopivat and ziltivekimab," he added.

Novo got the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Wegovy pill in December last year and launched it in early January. The drug has had a great kickstart so far.

In contrast, rival Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) is still awaiting FDA approval on its oral weight-loss drug, giving Novo a few months of solid head start to cement its position in the market. However, Lilly is currently overtaking Novo in injectable weight loss drugs.  

Blockbuster Drug Sales

Novo said on Tuesday that sales from its diabetes segment remained more-or-less flat on a reported basis in 2025 at DKK 207.11 billion while sales from its obesity segment increased 26% in Danish kroner to DKK 82.35 billion.

Sales of the company’s blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic came in at DKK130.11 billion for the year, while Wegovy sales came in at DKK79.11 billion.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around NVO stock rose from ‘neutral’ to ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘low’ to ‘high’ levels.

NVO stock has dropped about 39% over the past 12 months.

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Exchange Rate: DKK1= $0.16

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