Deutsche Bank on Thursday downgraded Novo Nordisk to 'Sell' from 'Hold' and slashed its price target by 9% to 265 Danish kroner, citing mixed second-quarter results and a cautious outlook for the Danish drugmaker.
The bank reduced its target from 290 kroner, reflecting what it described as mid-term high-single-digit revenue cuts. Analyst Emmanuel Papadakis characterized the company’s Q2 performance as mixed, pointing to sales of Wegovy’s new oral formulation at 3.22 billion kroner, slightly below the 3.3 billion kroner expected by analysts. Novo Nordisk’s shares fell more than 3% on the Copenhagen exchange following the report.
Papadakis highlighted several factors weighing on the outlook, including the removal of ziltivekimab from the pipeline and limited prescription growth under Medicare. He also flagged persistent concerns about the potential resumption of growth in 2027 and a significant risk of a sharp decline thereafter. The analyst noted that uncertainty ahead of Novo Nordisk’s Capital Markets Day on September 21 remains elevated.
Deutsche Bank’s move follows a prior downgrade in February, when the bank reduced Novo Nordisk to 'Hold' after disappointing trial data from the R4 study. The bank had previously described the company as having 'thrown in the towel' in response to the results.
Novo Nordisk now faces a full-year profit and sales outlook ranging from zero to minus 6% in constant exchange rates for 2025, an improvement from the previous forecast of minus 12% to minus 4%. The company is scheduled to host its Capital Markets Day later this month, where further details on its strategic and financial outlook are expected.
