Novo Nordisk's Net Profit Surges 32% in Q2 2025

Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) announced its financial results for Q2 2025, reporting a net profit of DKK 26,503 million, marking a 32% increase from DKK 20,050 million in Q2 2024. Revenue for the quarter reached DKK 76,857 million, an increase of 13% compared to DKK 68,060 million in the same period last year. This performance exceeded analyst revenue estimates of 77,113,787,310 DKK, converting to approximately 11,263,998,200 USD (at an average exchange rate of 0.146 USD/DKK), which it did not meet, with actual revenue being 11,215,907,249 USD (at the same exchange rate). Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were DKK 5.96, up from DKK 4.49 in Q2 2024, beating analyst EPS estimates of 0.93 USD when converted to DKK (approx. 6.37 DKK) assuming the average exchange rate for Q2 2025 (0.146 USD/DKK) as provided in the filing for H1 2025 (6.85 DKK/USD).

Key Business Drivers

Sales growth was significantly influenced by the Diabetes and Obesity care segment, which saw a 17% increase at constant exchange rates (CER). Within this segment, Obesity care sales grew by 53% at CER, primarily driven by Wegovy®. GLP-1 diabetes sales increased by 8% at CER. Insulin sales also rose by 5% at CER, and Rare disease sales increased by 28% at CER. US Operations' sales benefited from gross-to-net sales adjustments related to prior years, including a DKK 3 billion adjustment related to the 340B provision in Q2 2025. International Operations' sales grew, largely due to the uptake of Wegovy® and GLP-1 diabetes products.

Operational Performance

The gross margin for Q2 2025 was 83.3%, a slight decrease from 84.9% in Q2 2024, mainly due to amortizations and depreciations related to Catalent, partially offset by a favorable product mix from GLP-1-based treatments. Sales and distribution costs increased by 19% at CER, driven by promotional activities for Wegovy® and Ozempic® in both US and International Operations. Research and development costs decreased by 26% at CER, primarily due to an impairment loss related to ocedurenone in Q2 2024, despite increased investments in Obesity care and late-stage clinical trials. Operating profit increased by 40% at CER, influenced by the aforementioned impairment loss in the prior year and impacts from the Catalent acquisition.

Management Outlook

For the full year 2025, Novo Nordisk now anticipates sales growth to be between 8% and 14% at CER, and operating profit growth between 10% and 16% at CER. The lowered sales outlook for the second half of 2025 reflects reduced growth expectations for Wegovy® in the US obesity market and Ozempic® in the US GLP-1 diabetes market, as well as for Wegovy® in select international markets. This is partly due to the persistent use of compounded GLP-1s, slower-than-expected market expansion, and increased competition. The company is actively pursuing strategies, including litigation, to address unsafe and unlawful compounding and is focused on expanding access to Wegovy® through initiatives like NovoCare® Pharmacy and collaborations with telehealth organizations. A regulatory decision regarding the Wegovy® MASH indication is expected in Q3 2025. Capital expenditure is still projected to be around DKK 65 billion, supporting the expansion of global supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredient production and fill-finish capacity.