Deutsche Bank Downgrades Novo Nordisk to Sell
Deutsche Bank downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO, CSE:NOVOb) from Hold to Sell and reduced its price target by 9 percent, from 290 Danish crowns to 265 crowns per share. The downgrade was announced after Novo Nordisk reported mixed second‑quarter earnings and a subsequent London sell‑side meeting, a CEO non‑deal roadshow in Frankfurt, and recent prescription trends.
Novo Nordisk’s Q2 results showed a narrow miss on sales of its obesity drug Wegovy, with revenue of 3.22 billion Danish crowns versus analysts’ expectation of 3.3 billion crowns. The company also disclosed a trial setback for its next‑generation obesity candidate, CagriSema. Despite the miss, Novo raised its full‑year profit and sales outlook to a range of 0 % to –6 % at constant exchange rates, an improvement from the prior outlook of –12 % to –4 %.
Deutsche Bank’s analyst Emmanuel Papadakis explained that the price‑target cut reflects “high‑single‑digit mid‑term revenue cuts” driven by several factors: the drug ziltivekimab is now effectively out of the picture, a limited Medicare prescription bump is expected, and there are persisting concerns about the scope for a return to growth in 2027 and a large “cliff” problem further out.
This downgrade represents Deutsche Bank’s second rating cut for Novo Nordisk in 2026; the bank previously lowered the rating to Hold in February after the company missed data from its R4 trial. Novo Nordisk continues to compete with Eli Lilly for market share in obesity therapeutics, and information uncertainty remains high ahead of its Capital Markets Day scheduled for 21 September.
The stock reacted by falling more than 3 % in Copenhagen trading on Thursday following the announcement.