Novo Nordisk Surges to 70th in Trading Volume with 9.57 Billion Turnover Despite Lowered Outlook

On May 7, 2025, Novo Nordisk (NVO) saw a significant surge in trading volume, with a turnover of 9.57 billion, marking a 35.81% increase from the previous day. This placed the company at the 70th position in terms of trading volume for the day. The stock price of Novo Nordisk also rose by 1.90%.

Novo Nordisk's stock experienced a notable increase in premarket trading on Wednesday, despite the company lowering its full-year outlook. This unexpected rise can be attributed to investors' optimism regarding the company's long-term prospects, despite the short-term challenges.

The Danish pharmaceutical giant reported better-than-expected profits for the fiscal first quarter, with earnings of DKK 29.03 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of DKK 27.8 billion. However, the company revised its full-year sales growth guidance to a range of 13% to 21% at constant currency exchange rates, down from the previously guided range of 16% to 24%. This adjustment was due to weaker-than-expected sales of its weight loss drug, Wegovy, which faced intense competition from copycat drugs.

Novo Nordisk's total revenues for the first quarter rose 18% year-over-year to DKK 78.09 billion, driven by strong demand for its GLP-1 treatments. However, the sales growth fell marginally below analysts' expectations of DKK 78.18 billion. Wegovy's sales, although up 83% year-over-year, did not meet analysts' estimates. In contrast, the diabetes drug Ozempic performed well, with Q1 sales hitting DKK 32.72 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of DKK 31.5 billion.

The weight-loss drug market is highly competitive, with several companies developing and marketing alternatives to Novo Nordisk's popular GLP-1 drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had previously allowed compounding pharmaceutical companies to replicate the formulation of these drugs due to shortages, but the FDA has since resolved the shortage and set an end date for the sale of these copycat drugs.

Despite the challenges, Novo Nordisk remains optimistic about its future prospects. The company plans to file for regulatory approval of its advanced obesity drug, CagriSema, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. Additionally, the company's oral GLP-1 treatment for obesity is awaiting FDA approval and could be a significant success in the U.S. market.