Deutsche Bank, in a note, reacted to Wednesday's underwhelming results from Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) by calling the earnings report "an unusual print" and by repeating a Hold rating, with a DKK290 price target (vs current price of around DKK294.3, after the Danish diabetes and obesity drugmaker posted second-quarter results the broker's Emmanuel Papadakis called "an unusual print".
The DB analyst highlighted that the 10% revenue 'beat' was driven by Ozempic and insulins, citing rebate adjustments, rather than positive contributions from Novo's other blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, which came in line overall.
Both oral and injectable Wegovy missed expectations in the United States, he added, meanwhile, better operating expenses did help drive a 16% EBIT beat.
The DB analyst flagged that Novo Nordisk's guidance raise lifted the top end of both its full-year revenue and EBIT ranges by 4%, leaving the new range spanning flat to down 6% for the year, but argued this does little more than absorb the quarter's beat rather than extrapolate it into the second half.
With consensus currently sitting at reported sales down 7% and EBIT down 15%, Papadakis said both figures will need to move, though he noted the intraday ADR reaction already showed a mid-single-digit decline, which may not be enough to offset disappointment over the US Wegovy miss and the modest scale of the guidance raise.
