Novo Nordisk raised its 2022 outlook after a strong third quarter for diabetes medicine Ozempic, leading NVO stock to jump Wednesday.
For the year, the company now expects sales to grow 14%-17% in constant currency. As part of that outlook, the Danish drugmaker said it plans to boost manufacturing capacity for weight-loss shot Wegovy.
Eli Lilly is testing its diabetes medicine, Mounjaro, as a potential competitor to Wegovy in obesity treatment. The latter has struggled amid supply shortages. But Novo called for its diabetes and obesity treatments to drive sales growth this year.
On the stock market today, NVO stock surged 6.4% to close at 113.23. Shares are in a lengthy consolidation with a buy point at 122.26, according to MarketSmith.com.
NVO Stock Jumps As Ozempic Drives Sales
For the September quarter, Novo Nordisk's sales grew 26% on a strict, as-reported basis to about 45 billion Danish krone. That beat expectations for 44.44 billion Danish krone, according to FactSet. Based on today's exchange rates, that's roughly $59.9 billion in sales.
Ozempic generated almost 16.4 billion Danish krone, or about $2.2 billion in sales. On a year-over-year basis, sales rocketed more than 84%. Meanwhile, weight-loss injection Wegovy brought in 1.06 billion Danish krone. Based on today's exchange rate, that's about $140 million.
Adjusted profit was light, however, at 6.02 Danish krone — roughly 80 cents. NVO stock analysts forecasted 6.09 Danish krone.
In addition to boosting its sales outlook for the full fiscal year, Novo Nordisk said it now expects operating profit to increase 13%-16%, excluding the impact of exchange rates.
"We are very pleased with the sales growth in the first nine months of 2022 which has enabled us to raise the outlook for the full year," Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said in a written statement. "The growth is driven by increasing demand for GLP-1-based diabetes treatments, especially Ozempic."
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