Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock gapped up Thursday after the company reported sweeping growth for weight-loss drug Wegovy, though sales of diabetes behemoth Ozempic came in light.
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During the September quarter, Wegovy sales climbed more than eightfold, rocketing 734% to about $1.38 billion, based on today’s exchange rates. That easily beat expectations for about $1.09 billion, according to FactSet. Meanwhile, Ozempic sales grew 46% to roughly $3.31 billion, but missed views for $3.44 billion.
Still, Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen remained bullish on Novo’s efforts in diabetes and diseases tied to it. The active ingredient behind Wegovy and Ozempic is called semaglutide. Recently, a weekly dose of semaglutide showed promise in treating chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Novo Nordisk stopped the study early due to unexpectedly early effectiveness.
“We are very satisfied with the sales growth in the first nine months of 2023, which is reflecting that more people than ever are benefitting from our innovative diabetes and obesity treatments,” he said in a written statement.
In morning trades on today’s stock market, Novo Nordisk stock jumped 3.8% near 101.40.
Novo Nordisk Stock: Earnings Pop
Total sales climbed 29% to roughly $8.37 billion, easily above forecasts for $8.17 billion. Adjusted earnings came to about 72 cents per share, topping expectations for 66 cents. Earnings advanced 57% year over year.
Beyond diabetes and weight-loss drugs, revenue from Novo Nordisk’s rare diseases business toppled 24% to about $556.2 million.
For the year, the drugmaker reiterated its guidance for 32% to 38% sales growth and 40% to 46% growth in operating profit, in constant currency.
Novo Nordisk stock has a strong IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 97 on a 1-99 scale of a stock’s 12-month performance.
More to follow.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_AGatlin.
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