During the first six months of Maziar Mike Doustdar's tenure as Novo Nordisk's CEO, the company enjoyed a run of positive momentum highlighted by the launch of its Wegovy pill and a recent stock-price runup. But investor optimism came to a sudden halt this week as the company warned of significant sales and earnings declines in 2026.
Tuesday, Novo put out word that it's expecting sales and earnings to slide between 5% and 13% this year. In 2025, Novo generated sales growth of 10% and operating profit growth of 6% at constant exchange rates, the company said.
A few factors are playing into the 2026 guidance. For one, the company said it's expecting sales to decline in the U.S. amid "intensifying competition" and lower prices in some areas of its business. Novo is also warning of a sales hit from the recent "Most Favored Nation" pricing deal it struck with the Trump administration.
In a call with journalists Wednesday morning, Doustdar admitted that the guidance "reflects a year of unprecedented pricing pressure."
"We do not take this lightly, and we will do what we can to pursue volume opportunities in obesity and diabetes," he added.
The company is also forecasting a currency hit in 2026 as the U.S. dollar has lost value against the Danish krone, Novo's local currency.
Internationally, Novo expects sales to grow in 2026 as the global GLP-1 market continues to expand. But in some international markets, the company is anticipating patent expirations for its key semaglutide molecule.
For a quick review of the numbers, Novo last year logged (PDF) total sales of around 309 billion Danish kroner (nearly $50 billion), a 6% increase when measured in the Danish krone. Type 2 diabetes juggernaut Ozempic lassoed roughly 127 billion kroner ($20 billion) for the year, while its obesity counterpart Wegovy took home 79.1 billion kroner (nearly $13 billion).
As for its 2026 earnings expectations, Novo said the lower sales outlook for the year—paired with "targeted investments in current and future growth opportunities within R&D and commercial"—are playing into the profit projection. The company plans to re-invest some of the savings realized by the thousands of layoffs it's working through.
In a bright spot for the Danish drugmaker, the launch of Novo's Wegovy pill has continued to soar in the early weeks of 2026, Doustdar noted on Wednesday's media call.
“Put plainly, there are now more than 170,000 people on the Wegovy pill in about four weeks,” Doustdar said. “This uptake is more than double the previous branded anti-obesity drugs launched in the U.S. Though it is still early in the launch, most prescriptions appear to be for patients new to these medications, suggesting that the market is indeed expanding.”
Leadership shuffle
Besides the commercial updates, Novo added that Dave Moore, its executive vice president of U.S. operations, is leaving for personal reasons. In its release, Novo credited the outgoing exec with creating its global business development function and overseeing the launch of Ozempic, among other accomplishments. He'll be replaced by Jamey Millar, who joins this week from his prior role as CEO of UnitedHealth Group's Optum Specialty Holdings.
Novo is also bidding adieu to Ludovic Helfgott, executive vice president of product & portfolio strategy, who is leaving to pursue new opportunities, the company said. Taking this role will be Hong Chow, Merck KGaA's former executive vice president and head of China and international.
During his time at Novo, Helfgott boosted Novo's "presence and competitiveness in rare blood and endocrine disorders" and ended up leading commercial strategy, medical affairs and business development "across all therapy areas," the company said.
In the wake of the disclosures, investors sent Novo's share price plummeting more than 15%. The company's trading was briefly halted Tuesday due to the volatility, Bloomberg reported. With the share-price decline, Novo's year-to-date stock price performance turned negative.
In a note to clients, Jefferies analysts pointed out that the company's fourth-quarter 3% sales beat will likely be "overshadowed" by market watchers' need to trim their forecasts for Novo.
Editor's note: This story was updated with remarks from Novo CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar made on a Wednesday conference call with journalists.