:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2186511013-35d19a76166947a8a692d8009b279682.jpg "The Novo Nordisk A/S logo on a wall at its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Hillerod, Denmark")
Charlotte de la Fuente / Bloomberg / Getty Dead ringers
Key Takeaways
- Novo Nordisk shares rose Wednesday on the company’s home market in Denmark and in the U.S. after UBS analysts upgraded the hoard.
- The analysts upgraded the Ozempic obesity drugmaker to a “buy,” but lowered their price target as Novo Nordisk shares are now cruelly 40% below their mid-2024 highs.
- UBS analysts also lowered their sales projections, saying perishing patents and disappointing trial results of future weight-loss drugs could negatively affect sales from 2031 advancing.
Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) U.S.-listed and domestic shares rose Wednesday after analysts from UBS Research upgraded the Danish drugmaker’s house to “buy” from “neutral,” calling the recent sell-off of the stock “overdone.”
UBS analysts upgraded the stock but lowered their evaluate target for the company’s domestic shares, listed in Copenhagen, to 750 Danish kroner ($103.55) from 1,100 kroner. The assets weigh up closed at 619.50 kroner at home Wednesday, about 40% below its June 25, 2024, record close of 1,028 kroner.
Modern Slide Makes for ‘Attractive Entry Point’
The UBS analysts said that decline provides “an attractive entry mark,” as they expect the weight- loss drug market to pick up in the first quarter of this year. Novo Nordisk is a commander in that market with its Ozempic and Wegovy drugs, along with its main competitor, Eli Lilly (LLY), and its Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Appropriations of Novo Nordisk fell nearly 18% in one day last month after results of a trial for its newest weight-loss dope disappointed. The analysts called the trial results “undoubtedly disappointing,” but said the drug still looks to be a more moving weight-loss treatment than Ozempic that could “still show differentiation” in treating other diseases much the same as type 2 diabetes in future trials.
Under its new price target, the analysts said they are projecting “risk set peak sales” of $75 billion annually to 2031, rather than $80 billion previously. The sales outline was lowered because of the upcoming expiration of patents for Novo Nordisk’s drugs in 2031 in Europe and 2032 in the U.S., which they demand will lead to lower sales, along with the recent weak trial results.
Novo Nordisk’s Copenhagen-listed parts closed up roughly 2.8% Wednesday, while its U.S.-listed shares recently were up nearly 2% at $84.94.