Feb 3 (Reuters) - Shares of obesity drugmakers and developers slid on Tuesday after Novo Nordisk forecast a sharper-than-expected sales decline for 2026, underscoring intensifying competition in the
Novo Nordisk's 2026 Sales Forecast Triggers Obesity Stocks Decline
Impact of Novo Nordisk's Sales Forecast on Obesity Stocks
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Shares of obesity drugmakers and developers slid on Tuesday after Novo Nordisk forecast a sharper-than-expected sales decline for 2026, underscoring intensifying competition in the blockbuster weight-loss market.
Market Reactions and Stock Performance
Eli Lilly was down about 4%, Structure Therapeutics fell 6.2%, while Altimmune dropped 4.2%. Viking Therapeutics declined more than 3% and Amgen slipped nearly 1% in afternoon trading.
Analysts' Revised Market Expectations
The Danish drugmaker said it expects sales to drop between 5% and 13% this year, compared with analysts' average expectation of a 2% decline. Its U.S.-listed shares fell 13.8% to $50.83.
Novo Nordisk's Financial Performance
Wegovy-maker Novo also reported a 14% fall in fourth-quarter operating profit to 31.7 billion Danish crowns, slightly above the estimate of 31.2 billion crowns.
The selloff comes as Wall Street is reassessing long-held expectations that the obesity drug market could hit $150 billion early next decade, as U.S. prices for GLP-1 treatments from Novo and Lilly fall sharply and competition intensifies in the cash-pay consumer market.
Analysts have pushed out peak sales timelines and trimmed forecasts, with some now seeing the market closer to $80 billion to $105 billion by 2030.
($1 = 6.3201 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
