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U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) are jumping in premarket trading Wednesday even as the Danish pharmaceutical giant lowered its full-year outlook.
The maker of blockbuster weight-loss drugs reduced its 2025 guidance as alternative versions of its drugs weighed on demand. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had allowed companies to custom-make compounded versions of Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 drugs due to a shortage of Wegovy and Ozempic, but said in February that the situation had been resolved.
Novo Nordisk now projects year-over-year sales growth of 13% to 21% and operating profit growth of 16% to 24% at constant exchange rates for 2025, down from prior forecasts of 16% to 24% and 19% to 27%, respectively.
"We have reduced our full-year outlook due to lower-than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, which is impacted by the rapid expansion of compounding in the U.S.," CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said. "We are actively focused on preventing unlawful and unsafe compounding and on efforts to expand patient access to our GLP-1 treatments."
UBS analysts Wednesday stuck with their "buy" rating on the stock, saying they expect a relief rally with the guidance cut "broadly expected by the market." They also said the outlook assumes "a strong step up in 2H growth from three sources: i) battling US compounding; ii) expanding access with Novo Care, telehealth collaborations and CVS deal; and iii) full focus on commercial execution including ex-US Wegovy rollout."
Novo Nordisk Posts Mixed Q1 Results
Novo Nordisk reported mixed first-quarter results, posting earnings per share of 6.53 Danish kroner on net sales that increased 18% year-over-year at constant exchange rates to 78.09 billion kroner. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha projected DKK6.20 and DKK78.4 billion, respectively.
Ozempic sales rose 15% at constant exchange rates to DKK32.72 billion, topping estimates. Wegovy sales soared 83% to DKK17.36 billion but missed expectations.
U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk surged about 5.5% in premarket trading. They entered Wednesday down 23% on the year.
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