Novo Nordisk stock skidded Wednesday on mixed third-quarter results as sales of weight-loss drug Wegovy beat expectations, but Ozempic came in light.
Both drugs use the same active ingredient, semaglutide. Semaglutide mimics a hormone called GLP-1 to improve feelings of satiety and markers of blood sugar. During the September quarter, weight-loss drug Wegovy notched $2.53 billion in sales, according to FactSet. Wegovy sales rocketed more than 84% year over year, and beat forecasts for $2.31 billion.
But Ozempic, the diabetes injection, brought in just $4.36 billion, missing expectations for nearly $4.5 billion. Ozempic sales jumped 28%.
On today's stock market, Novo Nordisk stock slumped 4.3% to close at 105.38. Shares of the weight-loss kingpin hit a 2024 high at 148.15 in late June. Since then, they have tumbled 29%.
Novo Nordisk Stock: Profit, Sales Grow
Across all products, Novo's sales grew almost 25% on a strict, as-reported basis to $10.42 billion. But that missed forecasts for $10.57 billion. The company earned 89 cents a share, topping projections by a penny. Earnings also advanced by roughly 25% year over year.
Novo tightened its outlook for the year, and now expects sales to grow 23% to 27%, excluding the impact of exchange rates. That's narrower than the company's previous call for 22% to 28% sales growth.
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