Novo Nordisk shares tumble 18% after 2026 sales dip warning

Shares successful Novo Nordisk person plummeted aft the drugmaker forecast a dip successful income and nett maturation beneath expert expectations for 2026 amid pricing and patent expiry headwinds.

For the coming year, Novo expects income could driblet arsenic overmuch 13% astatine changeless speech rates (CER). This would people the archetypal income diminution successful years for the company, which has risen to predominate the obesity attraction space. Adjusted operating nett maturation could besides driblet by 13% astatine CER, according to Novo.

The guidance, which was published aft the European marketplace closed connected 3 February, was punished by investors astatine marketplace open. When the Copenhagen banal speech began trading connected 4 February, shares successful Novo were down 18% - dropping to DKr 302.00 ($47.76) from DKr 367.80 astatine the erstwhile marketplace close. The institution has a marketplace headdress of DKr 1.38tn.

According to Citi analysts, 2026 guidance for income and operating nett is 8% and 10% beneath consensus, respectively, astatine the midpoints.

The outlook for 2026 marks a speedy downturn from 2025, successful which Novo reported CER income maturation of 10% to scope DKr 309bn.

The guidance states that the anemic 2026 outlook reflects pricing headwinds successful the US, with the institution straight referencing impacts from President Trump’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy. In November 2025, Novo struck a pricing woody with the White House that saw prices for its semaglutide brands Wegovy and Ozempic slashed. It besides acceptable a terms for its past pending oral Wegovy successful obesity. The cause was approved soon aft by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) successful December 2025.

The statement came amid threats of tariffs by Trump connected imported drugs, which would person severely impacted Novo, fixed the US represents its astir lucrative market. Separate terms erosion has travel via semaglutide’s inclusion nether the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a terms alteration that Novo is presently warring successful court.

Patent expiries of semaglutide successful definite markets – including Brazil, Canada, and China – besides blunted the income outlook for 2026. Competition from Eli Lilly and compounders further constricted marketplace share.

Novo is warring to regain a foothold successful a value nonaccomplishment assemblage it erstwhile dominated. Lilly’s tirzepatide brands, Zepbound and Mounjaro, person usurped Wegovy and Ozempic arsenic the fastest selling obesity and benignant 2 diabetes GLP-1RAs, respectively.

Novo was erstwhile the astir invaluable institution successful Europe but has since slipped down the rankings owed to declining stock price. Lilly, meanwhile, became the archetypal trillion-dollar marketplace headdress institution successful healthcare, reflecting the differing fortunes of the 2 rivals.