Shares in Novo Nordisk (NOVO-B.CO, NVO) fell on Wednesday after the Danish pharmaceuticals company behind weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic slashed its sales and profit forecasts.
The company's Copenhagen-listed shares were down more than 3% on Wednesday, while New York-listed shares were down 3.6% in pre-market trading after tumbling nearly 22% in the previous session.
In a release on Tuesday, Novo Nordisk cut its expected full-year sales growth to 8%-14%, down from the 13%-21% it had expected to see as of May.
The company also said it now expects operating profit growth of 10%-16%, down from its previous estimate of 16%-24%.
Read more: Stocks slip as traders digest earnings and await eurozone GDP data
“For Wegovy in the US, the sales outlook reflects…slower-than-expected market expansion and competition,” Novo Nordisk said. “For Ozempic, the updated outlook is negatively impacted by competition in the US.”
In a separate statement on Tuesday, Novo Nordisk announced that Maziar Mike Doustdar had been appointed as president and CEO, effective from 7 August. He will replace Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, whose departure from the company was announced in May.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “Novo Nordisk shares continue to endure their own remarkable weight loss programme.
“This is a classic case of market euphoria and elevated expectations being the downfall of a share price; amid all the noise, income at the company continues to soar. The pendulum has swung from wild optimism at 39 times earnings a year ago to rampant pessimism at 11 times now – are there any investors brave enough to snap up a possible bargain?”
Shares in Starbucks rose 4.5% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after the coffee shop chain's CEO Brian Niccol said the company's turnaround is “ahead of schedule”.
The rise in share price came despite Starbucks reporting a mixed set of third quarter results on Tuesday, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.50, which was below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $0.65.
Net revenue was slightly better than expected, at $9.46bn (£7.07bn) versus a $9.29bn estimate. However, total comparable sales fell 2%, which was worse than the 1.5% decline expected on Wall Street.
Niccol said: “We've fixed a lot and done the hard work on the hard things to build a strong operating foundation, and based on my experience of turnarounds, we are ahead of schedule.
“In 2026, we'll unleash a wave of innovation that fuels growth, elevates customer service, and ensures everyone experiences the very best of Starbucks. We're building back a better Starbucks experience and a better business.”
