LLY
NVO
The pill is popping off
Novo Nordisk didn’t just post a decent quarter — it basically told Wall Street, “Relax, we’ve got this.” The company raised its fiscal 2026 guidance after a first quarter that showed GLP-1 demand still has plenty of gas in the tank, especially thanks to the freshly launched Wegovy pill.
Sales came in at $15.17 billion, handily topping estimates, while adjusted earnings also beat expectations. The stock liked that story immediately, jumping in premarket as investors re-priced Novo from “growth still exists?” to “okay, maybe the machine is still humming.”
Wegovy pill: small launch, big energy
Here’s the headline within the headline: the Wegovy pill, which launched in the U.S. in January, is moving way faster than a lot of people expected. Novo said weekly prescriptions were already above 200,000 by mid-April, with about 1.3 million prescriptions in the first quarter and more than 2 million since launch.
That matters because the pill isn’t just a cute new format. It’s another way to get semaglutide into more hands, and it adds a new lane to a business that’s been living and dying by obesity-drug demand. The company also said international launches are expected in the second half of 2026, pending approvals — so this thing still has room to run.
The fine print nobody loves
Not everything in the quarter was pure confetti. Novo’s reported operating profit got a boost from a reversal tied to the U.S. 340B Drug Pricing Program, which helped make the numbers look even shinier. Excluding that benefit, the company still expects adjusted sales and operating profit to decline at CER in 2026, but the range is now a bit less gloomy than before.
Big picture: Novo’s not out here selling a miracle cure for investor nerves, but the Wegovy pill is clearly giving the company a stronger 2026 story — and the market is willing to reward that plot twist.