Novo Nordisk Q3 2026 Earnings: Sales Up 4%, Reported Profit Down 16% on DKK 8.7B of Write-Downs

Novo Nordisk raised its full-year outlook on November 4 and reported a quarter in which two measures of profit moved in opposite directions. Adjusted operating profit rose 27% at constant exchange rates, to DKK 31.7 billion. Reported operating profit fell 9% at constant rates, to DKK 23.0 billion, and net profit fell 16% to DKK 16.7 billion. The difference is DKK 8.7 billion of impairments: DKK 4.6 billion on ziltivekimab, a heart-disease drug candidate, and DKK 4.1 billion for "right-sizing" a manufacturing network the ledger shows has more than tripled since the end of 2022. Sales grew 4% at constant rates, on more GLP-1 volume at lower realised prices.

More volume at lower prices​

Net sales were DKK 79,195 million against DKK 74,976 million a year earlier, up 6% in Danish kroner and 4% at constant exchange rates (financial report). The report attributes the growth to GLP-1 volume in both the US and International Operations, mainly in obesity, "partly offset by lower realised prices." The Wegovy pill, launched in four countries by the end of the quarter, sold DKK 5,394 million. Starting January 1, 2027, Novo will lower US list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic, so the price side of that trade continues next year.

For the first nine months reported sales were DKK 254,506 million, including the DKK 26.8 billion reversal of a US 340B rebate provision in the first quarter, discussed in our H1 analysis. Excluding it, nine-month adjusted sales were DKK 227,746 million, flat in kroner.

The treemap shows where the write-downs sit. Research and development, DKK 19,903 million, is the largest cost and includes the DKK 4,648 million ziltivekimab impairment; without it, R&D was DKK 15,255 million, 1% less than a year earlier. Cost of goods sold, DKK 18,237 million, includes the DKK 4,061 million manufacturing impairment. Sales and distribution costs fell 9% at constant rates to DKK 15,032 million, which Novo attributes to savings from the company-wide transformation it announced in the third quarter of 2025.

Adjusted profit grew 27% against a weak comparison​

The adjusted figure excludes the impairments, and it also benefits from the base: the third quarter of 2025 carried DKK 9 billion of company-wide transformation costs, which the report cites as a favourable comparison. Adjusted gross margin was 82.1%, against 76.1% a year earlier; reported gross margin was 77.0%. Below operating profit, financial items were a net expense of DKK 1,577 million, against net income of DKK 1,835 million a year earlier, by our computation from the two filed lines. The tax charge fell to DKK 4,694 million.

The IFRS figures make the other half of the point: reported operating profit was DKK 23,011 million against DKK 23,682 million, and the operating margin 29.1%. Both the adjusted rise and the reported fall are real; one measures the business before the write-downs, the other after writing down investments that will not earn back their cost.

What only the ledger shows: the factories came first​

Property, plant and equipment was DKK 66,671 million at the end of 2022, DKK 162,488 million at the end of 2024, DKK 208,378 million at the end of 2025 and DKK 240,787 million on September 30, 2026: 3.6 times its 2022 level, by our computation. Annual net sales grew from DKK 176,954 million in 2022 to DKK 309,064 million in 2025, 1.7 times. Novo built capacity for the GLP-1 demand it expected, and this quarter it recorded a DKK 4.1 billion impairment to right-size that network. Capital expenditure for the nine months was DKK 37.2 billion against DKK 41.7 billion a year earlier, and the report says it "is expected to continue to decline."

For any business, the order of those lines is the lesson. Capacity is bought before the sales it serves, and if prices fall faster than volume grows, part of the asset is written down rather than earned back.

Each row is one reported period: net sales as a negative credit and Equity:Adjustments as net profit. Net profit was DKK 55,525 million in 2022, DKK 100,988 million in 2024 and DKK 102,434 million in 2025: it barely grew last year, while property, plant and equipment rose by DKK 45.9 billion. Intangible assets fell to DKK 92,351 million from DKK 110,208 million at the end of 2025, after DKK 15.0 billion of major impairments in the first nine months, mainly on intangible assets.

What to watch for the rest of 2026​

• The outlook. Novo now expects adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit growth of −2% to +2% at constant rates, up from 0% to −6%, and free cash flow of DKK 60 billion to 70 billion. Nine-month free cash flow was DKK 83.8 billion.
• US list prices. The January 1, 2027 cuts to Wegovy and Ozempic list prices will show up in realised prices next year; the volume growth has to outpace them.
• The Wegovy pill. DKK 5.4 billion of sales in the third quarter; Novo has since launched it in eight markets.
• Capital expenditure. If it keeps falling while volumes grow, the factory build-out starts to pay; another impairment would say the network is still too large.