Why Novo Nordisk Stock Dropped Today

Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), the Danish drugmaker of GLP-1 weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, slipped 2% through 10:30 a.m. ET Friday after suffering a one-two punch from Reuters and a bank analyst.

On Thursday, Reuters reported weak U.S. prescription data is contributing to investor concerns that Novo Nordisk is no longer a growth stock. Taking a quick cue from the report, Singapore's DBS Bank has flipped 180 degrees, cutting its rating on Novo Nordisk stock from "buy" all the way to "sell."

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Everybody hates Novo Nordisk

Let's start with the Reuters report. Ever "since launching its wildly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy in 2021," says Reuters, Novo has trained investors to expect the company's earnings reports to feature regular updates of new and improved sales guidance. In February, however, the company said sales will grow only 16% to 24% this year, which is "a much slower pace than in the past few years."

Reuters cites IQVIA data to show that "U.S. Wegovy prescriptions have plateaued since mid-February," versus Eli Lilly's (NYSE: LLY) competing Zepbound GLP-1 drug, which is taking market share from Novo. Adding to Novo's misery, clinical trial data on the company's new CagriSema drug, which was supposed to be even better than Wegovy and Ozempic, isn't measuring up.

Result: Investors are now bracing for bad news when Novo Nordisk reports its Q1 earnings on May 7.

Is Novo Nordisk stock a sell?

Digesting all this news, DBS Bank concludes Novo Nordisk's run is done and that it's time to sell the stock. This morning, The Fly reports that DBS has downgraded Novo stock all the way from buy to sell and set a price target of 330 Danish krone -- about $50.28 -- on the stock. That's about 18% below where Novo stock trades today.

I disagree.

Priced at 18.2 times earnings today, Novo looks to me more than fairly priced for a 16%-to-24% growth rate. In fact, it might even be cheap. The best time to buy Novo Nordisk might actually be right now, when everybody else seems to hate it.

Should you invest $1,000 in Novo Nordisk right now?

Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Novo Nordisk wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.