Novo Nordisk shares tumble 18% as CEO warns it would worsen earlier than it will get higher – Worldwide Dispatch

Simply as Novo Nordisk confirmed indicators of a restoration, one other chilly bathe hit traders because the drugmaker shock pre-released its 2026 forecast late Tuesday, sending shares tumbling. 

Novo Nordisk’s inventory plummeted 18% in Copenhagen early Wednesday, monitoring losses seen in its American depositary shares on Tuesday and greater than wiping out good points seen to this point this yr. 

“Folks ought to anticipate that it goes down earlier than it comes again up,” CEO Mike Doustdar advised CNBC’s “Early Version Europe” on Wednesday, highlighting the headwinds of considerably decrease U.S. pricing on its best-selling weight reduction drug Wegovy. 

“We didn’t go into the small print of the magnitude of that – with the steerage we’re giving that vary.”

It follows Novo’s steerage for 2026 gross sales and working revenue each declining between 5% and 13%, far worse than analysts had anticipated.

Barclays analysts stated some would possibly counsel the information to be a “kitchen sink” that will probably be crushed, “although we observe the identical was stated final yr, and this proved to not be the case.” 

In July final yr, Novo slashed steerage for 2025, citing a difficult U.S. market, resulting in shares to crash 23% on the day.

“We’re creating affordability for the sufferers, thousands and thousands of sufferers which might be proper now in want of GLP-1 merchandise, however merely couldn’t afford it. To try this brief time period, you must take a headwind. However after all, there is a very lengthy tailwind for years to return,” Doustdar advised CNBC. 

The corporate has flagged challenges round pricing in its largest market, the U.S., because of each competitors from compounding pharmacies that promote cheaper knockoff variations of semaglutide – the energetic ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic – in addition to from chief rival U.S.-based Eli Lilly.

However optimism grew early this yr because the launch of the Wegovy capsule within the U.S. went higher than even Novo had anticipated. “We knew it may be one of the best by way of efficacy of 16.6% we had anticipated it to do effectively, however we didn’t suppose that after 4 weeks of introduction, we may have 170,000 folks on the capsule,” stated Doustdar.

“Irrespective of how effectively it does within the preliminary interval, the worth hit on the present enterprise trumps, principally, the nice capsule launch that we have had.”

Whereas Novo has labored to handle expectations going into its full-year outcomes, the place it additionally introduced steerage for the yr to return, the market didn’t see this coming. 

“The query turns into if the restoration from right here, [will be] a Nike swoosh or U-shaped restoration,” famous HSBC’s Rajesh Kumar.