Copenhagen, May 6, 2026, 13:07 (CEST)
Novo Nordisk bumped up its 2026 forecast on Wednesday, buoyed by stronger-than-expected initial sales for its Wegovy weight-loss pill—a fresh win in its rivalry with Eli Lilly. In Copenhagen, the stock jumped up to 9.2% after Novo told investors it now expects this year’s drops in sales and profit to be less steep than it previously warned.
This shift is significant for Novo, which has been working to regain investor trust after ceding space in the U.S. obesity market. Lilly has picked up share there with its injectable treatments and recently launched a pill of its own. GLP-1 drugs—these mimic a gut hormone involved in appetite regulation and blood sugar—have surged into one of pharma’s hottest growth segments.
Pills are taking center stage now as the latest test. They might attract patients unwilling to try injections, though they also introduce fresh competition in a market acutely sensitive to price, access, and the ebb and flow of weekly prescription numbers—each capable of shifting billions in value. In April, Lilly’s Foundayo pill got the green light from U.S. regulators, putting it head-to-head with Novo’s Wegovy pill.
Novo reported that prescriptions for the Wegovy pill in the U.S., which debuted Jan. 5, surged past 200,000 for the week ending April 17. Prescriptions totaled about 1.3 million in the first quarter, crossing the 2 million mark since launch. First-quarter sales of the pill came in at 2.26 billion Danish crowns, with some of that lift attributed to pre-launch wholesaler and telehealth channel stocking.
The company is now looking for adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit to drop between 4% and 12% this year at constant exchange rates, which exclude currency effects. That’s a slightly narrower range than its previous outlook, which called for declines of 5% to 13%. In the first quarter, adjusted sales decreased 10% in Danish crowns, coming in at 70.06 billion crowns. Adjusted operating profit was down 15%, landing at 32.86 billion crowns.
Novo’s reported numbers got a clear lift after the company reversed a provision related to the U.S. 340B Drug Pricing Program, which offers discounts to certain hospitals and clinics. Net sales climbed 24% to 96.82 billion crowns, while operating profit jumped 54% to 59.62 billion crowns. Still, Novo broke out those results from its adjusted figures.
Chief Executive Mike Doustdar credited stronger demand for Wegovy outside the U.S. as the key factor behind the upgraded guidance. Doustdar also noted that since launching in January, more than 1 million patients have taken the Wegovy pill. The company’s offerings grew further with recent approvals for a higher-dose injectable version of Wegovy.
“The Wegovy pill is the clear bright spot of the day,” said Oskar Bernhardtsen, investment strategist at Saxo Bank, in comments to Reuters. Still, he pointed out, the guidance upgrade didn’t quite hit the scale the market was looking for. Shares in Novo were up 5.8% by 0913 GMT, on track for their sharpest daily jump of the year, according to Reuters. Reuters
Lilly’s numbers are tougher to match. The U.S. drugmaker posted a 56% revenue jump in the first quarter to $19.8 billion last week, powered by Mounjaro and Zepbound. Full-year revenue guidance is now up—$82 billion to $85 billion. Mounjaro sales soared, more than doubling to $8.66 billion, while Zepbound brought in $4.16 billion, up 80%.
Foundayo’s prescription figures have stumbled out of the gate, but analysts were quick to downplay the significance of the initial numbers. In its third week, Lilly’s pill notched 5,612 prescriptions, Reuters said. For comparison, Wegovy logged over 18,000 scripts in its first full week and surged past 134,000 by week sixteen. RBC Capital Markets’ Trung Huynh noted these early snapshots can be misleading, with a more reliable trend likely emerging after eight to twelve weeks.
Novo’s challenge: a fast launch for the pill, but pricing troubles linger. In the first quarter, U.S. adjusted sales dropped 11%—volume climbed, but lower realized prices dragged on results. Reuters said over half of U.S. Wegovy sales now run through cheaper self-pay channels. Chasing bigger volumes with thinner prices could keep margins tight.
Novo is targeting the second half of 2026 for its first launches of Wegovy pills outside the U.S., subject to regulators signing off. All eyes are now on the coming months to see if the oral version of Wegovy amounts to just a rapid-fire U.S. debut, or if it’s the moment Novo Nordisk pushes for a wider shakeup in the obesity drug race against its own Ozempic and Wegovy injections.
