Novo-Nordisk A/S has raised its full-year guidance, citing sustained demand for weight-loss medications with no signs of slowing. The Danish pharmaceutical company now expects adjusted sales and operating profit to decline by up to 6% in 2026 on a constant currency basis, an improvement from its prior forecast of a 4% to 12% drop for both metrics.
CEO Mike Duersted stated that U.S. patients are actively seeking access to Novo-Nordisk A/S's oral Wegovy, with over 5 million prescriptions written since its January launch. He added that initial usage trends in other recently expanded markets are also encouraging. "The strengthening U.S. GLP-1 drug growth, combined with continued international business expansion and new product launches, has driven us to further upgrade our 2026 adjusted sales and operating profit guidance," Duersted said.
Analysts had anticipated that Novo-Nordisk A/S would raise its annual forecast, as Wegovy has significantly boosted the company's sales since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved it as a weight-loss drug in 2021. In recent months, the company has been securing approvals from health regulators in multiple markets to expand Wegovy's access to more patients, thereby driving further sales growth. In June, Novo-Nordisk A/S announced that its oral Wegovy had been approved in the UK for overweight or obese adults, offering an alternative to weekly injections—the first European approval for the oral form. A month later, it gained approval to market the oral pill in the European Union, paving the way for distribution across all 27 member states. The EU also approved a single-dose injection pen version of Wegovy.
The battle for a share of the lucrative weight-loss drug market has led to friction between Novo-Nordisk A/S and some competitors. Last month, Novo-Nordisk A/S requested a U.S. court to preliminarily ban Eli Lilly from advertising its weight-loss drugs, days after filing a lawsuit accusing the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company of using deceptive ads to mislead consumers. Simultaneously, Novo-Nordisk A/S is facing a patent challenge from Sandoz in Italy, which seeks to invalidate the company's patents in 18 EU countries concerning semaglutide dosages for diabetes.
For the second quarter, Novo-Nordisk A/S reported a 7% year-over-year increase in adjusted sales, reaching 78.49 billion Danish kroner (approximately $12.08 billion). Wegovy injectable contributed 19.48 billion kroner, while the oral form added 3.22 billion kroner. Net profit fell 21% to 20.99 billion kroner, but adjusted operating profit, a key metric for investors, rose 11% to 33.39 billion kroner.
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