TradingKey - On September 21, Novo Nordisk (NVO) fell over 7% in US pre-market trading at one point. The company's latest earnings update showed that full-year sales and profit expectations improved from earlier guidance, but sales performance of its core weight-loss drug Wegovy still fell short of market expectations, becoming the main factor dragging down the stock price.

Source: TradingView

Novo Nordisk stated that it currently expects the maximum decline in sales and profit this year to be around 6%, significantly better than the previously projected maximum drop of 12%. This adjustment signifies an improved outlook for the company's full-year operating performance, which the market might otherwise have viewed as a positive signal. However, Wegovy's quarterly sales fell short of expectations, sparking fresh concerns among investors regarding the future growth pace of the company's weight-loss drug business.

Data showed that second-quarter sales of Wegovy reached 3.22 billion Danish kroner, compared with market expectations of 3.27 billion Danish kroner, coming in slightly below analysts' estimates. Although the gap was not large, Wegovy has been a crucial growth driver for Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug business, drawing significant market attention to its sales performance. Consequently, even a slight miss easily triggered volatility in the stock price.

In recent years, Novo Nordisk has rapidly expanded its obesity drug business with weight-loss products such as Wegovy, becoming a major player in the global weight-loss drug market. As the market scale continues to expand, investors have set higher expectations for Wegovy's sales growth.

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