CEO says it will get worse before it gets better
just as Novo Nordisk Investors were once again hit with a cold shower when the drugmaker announced its 2026 forecast late Tuesday, sending shares plunging.
Shares of Novo Nordisk tumbled 17% in Copenhagen on Wednesday, more than wiping out the gains seen so far this year following losses seen in American depositary stocks on Tuesday.
CEO Mike Doustdar, in his statement to CNBC’s “Early Edition Europe” program on Wednesday, pointed out the negative effects of the significant drop in US prices of the best-selling weight loss drug Wegovy and said, “People should wait for it to drop before it rises again.”
“We haven’t gone into detail about the magnitude of this in the guidance we’ve given this range.”
This follows Novo’s forecasts for 2026 sales and operating profit both falling between 5% and 13%, much worse than analysts had expected.
Barclays analysts said some might suggest the guidance was a “kitchen sink” to beat, but “we note that the same thing was said last year and this has not been proven to be the case.”
In July last year, Novo lowered its 2025 forecast, claiming that the US market was difficult, which caused the shares to lose 23% of their value during the day.
‘U-shaped recovery’
“We’re creating affordability for patients, for the millions of patients who need GLP-1 products right now but can’t afford it. To do that in the short term, you have to face the headwind. But of course, there’s going to be a very long tailwind for years to come,” Doustdar told CNBC.
The company said it has difficulties with pricing in the United States, its largest market, due to both competition from pharmacies selling cheaper knock-off versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, and its chief rival, who is based in the United States. Eli Lilly.
But optimism grew earlier this year as the U.S. launch of the Wegovy pill went better than even Novo expected. “We knew it would be the best at 16.6% in terms of effectiveness, we expected it to do well, but we didn’t think 170,000 people would be on the pill after four weeks of use,” Doustdar said.
“No matter how good it was in the initial period, the price in the current commercial market is basically dwarfing the great pill launch we had.”
While Novo tried to manage expectations for its full-year results, where it also announced its guidance for next year, the market didn’t see it coming.
“From here the question arises as to whether there will be recovery, [will be] “Nike’s swoosh or a U-shaped recovery,” said Rajesh Kumar of HSBC.
A company in crisis?
Last year was a historic year for Novo in many ways.
Shares are down nearly 50% in 2025, making it the company’s worst year on record. Company appoints first non-Danish CEO appointed former CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen as chairman of the board in what has been described as an unprecedented power grab. This position is added to his existing duties, which also include chairmanship of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo’s controlling shareholder.
Novo also signed a landmark agreement with US President Donald Trump to lower the prices of blockbuster drugs on Medicare and Medicaid and offer them directly to consumers at a discount on the Trump administration’s website, TrumpRx.gov.
New The starting dose of the Wegovy pill is marketed at just $149That’s a fraction of the price at which Novo sold its injectable version just a year ago. Patent expirations in some non-US markets in 2026 will also impact sales.
Novo also said that Novo’s US chief David Moore, who led the launch of the pill, had left the company for personal reasons. He was replaced by Jamie Miller, who previously worked for US health insurance. United Health Group.
Asked on Wednesday whether Novo Nordisk was in crisis, Doustdar answered emphatically “no.”
“While we recognize that 2025 presents significant challenges that impact our performance and share price, these challenges have made us more resilient,” he said in a call with reporters.
