Novo Nordisk has raised its full-year outlook for the third time this year, after stronger-than-expected sales of its Wegovy weight-loss pill gave the Danish drugmaker fresh momentum in its battle to recover ground lost to American rival Eli Lilly.
The company said on Wednesday that it now expects adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit for 2026 to come in between 2% lower and 2% higher than last year, at constant exchange rates. That is a clear improvement on its previous forecast of a fall of up to 6%, and reflects stronger expectations for its GLP-1 medicines in both the United States and international markets.
The star of the quarter was the Wegovy pill. Launched in the United States in January, it generated sales of 5.39 billion Danish crowns, about $810 million, in the third quarter — up 53% on the second quarter and comfortably above the 4.62 billion crowns analysts had expected. The United States accounted for 4.18 billion crowns of that total, with international markets contributing 1.22 billion.
Novo said prescriptions for the pill in the US reached about 3.6 million in the quarter, taking the total since launch past 8 million. The company estimates the pill now holds around 80% of new-to-brand prescriptions in the US across reimbursed, cash-pay and telehealth channels, and says the wider Wegovy franchise accounts for more than half of new patient starts among branded obesity drugs. The pill is now sold in eight markets.
The result matters because the pill is widely seen as Novo’s main route back to growth. The company rode a wave of demand after launching injectable Wegovy in 2021, becoming Europe’s most valuable listed company in 2023, but its shares have since fallen more than 70% from their peak after two years of profit warnings and a leadership change, while Lilly’s shares have surged. Lilly itself raised its outlook last week on booming demand for its injectable weight-loss drugs.
Overall, Novo reported third-quarter adjusted sales of 79.20 billion crowns, against 73.22 billion expected, and adjusted operating profit of 31.72 billion crowns, up 27% at constant exchange rates and above the 28.39 billion analysts had projected. Reported operating profit, by contrast, fell 9% at constant exchange rates, weighed down by 8.7 billion crowns of non-cash impairments.
Chief executive Mike Doustdar said growth had been led by the obesity portfolio, with continued uptake of the Wegovy pill in the US and encouraging early launches internationally. He acknowledged, however, that the pill’s prescription curve had flattened in recent weeks, which he attributed to seasonality, and said the company hoped for a pick-up around Christmas and the New Year.
There are clouds on the horizon. Doustdar declined to give guidance for 2027 before February, pointing to the loss of semaglutide exclusivity in some international markets, continued pressure in China and a less favourable gross-to-net effect. Novo will also cut US list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic to $675 a month from 1 January, reductions of about 50% and 35% respectively, which it said would hit 2027 cash flow.
Note: the featured image is a file photo of Novo Nordisk’s headquarters in Bagsværd, Denmark, taken in 2012, not a photograph of the Wegovy pill or current trading.
Sources: Reuters, “Novo Nordisk hikes 2026 outlook again as Wegovy pill beats forecasts”, 4 November 2026, https://947thebeast.com/2026/11/04/novo-nordisk-q3-profit-beats-forecast-raises-2026-guidance/
