Novo Nordisk's 27% profit jump is the adjusted number; the reported number fell 9%
Novo's beat-and-raise quarter hides a flat underlying US market propped up by a temporary Medicare bridge, and a reported profit that fell 9% while the adjusted line rose 27%. The CFO who called the write-offs one-offs leaves on December 31.
Vincent Jiang · 2 min read
Novo Nordisk's+0.15% — Novo Nordisk, up 0.15 percent today stock jumped more than 6% on November 4 after the Danish drugmaker beat expectations and raised its 2026 guidance 135. Adjusted sales rose 4% to DKK 79.2 billion ($11.9 billion) and adjusted operating profit climbed 27% at constant exchange rates to about DKK 32 billion 135. The Wegovy pill "exceeded our expectations," CEO Mike Doustdar said, with more than 8 million cumulative prescriptions since its January launch 135. That is the headline. Underneath it sit two disclosures that change how the quarter should be priced. 135
One quarter, two profit numbers
The 27% jump is the adjusted line 23. The reported line fell 9% at constant exchange rates, dragged down by DKK 8.7 billion in non-cash impairment charges: DKK 4.6 billion from killing the cardiovascular drug ziltivekimab, DKK 4.1 billion from right-sizing the manufacturing network, plus, per Fierce Biotech, DKK 4.0 billion for scrapping the obesity candidate monlunabant, out of DKK 15 billion in major charges. 23
CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen called them one-offs that leave "a much cleaner balance sheet." He leaves the company on December 31 after 27 years, replaced by Luigi La Corte of Galderma 34. The man signing the quarter is the man leaving it. 34
Novo's Q3: adjusted profit up 27%, reported profit down 9%
The same quarter is up 27% adjusted and down 9% reported
Data
| YoY growth, CER (%) | |
|---|---|
| Adjusted op. profit | 27% |
| Adjusted sales | 4% |
| US ops sales | 1% |
| Reported op. profit | -9% |
The growth runs through a bridge that ends
US operations grew just 1% 1. The engine was the Medicare bridge program, running at roughly 60,000 prescriptions a week, which drove Wegovy's 20% sequential volume rise "largely but not exclusively," per US chief Jamey Millar 1. Excluding it, the obesity category was relatively flat from May to October. Guidance sits at zero growth for 2026, and Wegovy's US price erosion ran 30-35% in the quarter. 1
2027 therefore leans on CagriSema, whose FDA decision is due before year-end, and on deals: Doustdar is hunting acquisitions to "close some of the gaps" his write-offs just priced 35. The new CFO inherits the zero-growth guide and the shopping list. Watch the CagriSema decision. 35
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