Novo Nordisk Appoints New CFO Amid Wegovy Pill Growth
Novo Nordisk named Luigi La Corte as its incoming CFO while reporting strong Q3 2026 sales for its Wegovy pill, which beat analyst estimates.
Novo Nordisk is appointing a new chief financial officer and raising its financial forecast after a strong quarter for its Wegovy pill. Luigi La Corte, currently the CFO of Galderma, will succeed Karsten Munk Knudsen, whose departure was mutually agreed upon.
Knudsen will leave the company at the end of 2026 after 27 years, including nine as CFO. The leadership change comes as the Danish pharmaceutical giant navigates a volatile market for its weight-loss medicines.
Novo's financial performance and outlook
The company upgraded its full-year guidance following better-than-expected third-quarter results. Novo now expects adjusted revenue and operating profit to grow between negative 2% and 2% at constant exchange rates. This is an improvement from its previous forecast of negative 6% to flat growth.
In May, the high end of the company's forecast was a 4% drop. By August, it said growth might be unchanged for the year. The latest upgrade marks a significant shift. "Adjusted sales and operating profit will now grow as much as 2% at constant exchange rates," Novo Nordisk said.
Overall company sales and profit also beat Wall Street forecasts. Total third-quarter sales were 79.2 billion Danish kroner, or about $11.9 billion. This represented a 4% year-on-year increase at constant exchange rates and exceeded FactSet estimates of 73.6 billion kroner. Adjusted operating profit reached 31.7 billion kroner, compared with the expected 28.6 billion.
Wegovy's strong Q3 performance
The Wegovy pill was the standout performer. Launched in January 2026, the oral medication generated 5.39 billion Danish kroner in the third quarter, approximately $811 million. This result surpassed consensus analyst estimates.
| Metric | Q3 2026 Result | Analyst Estimate (Jefferies) |
|---|---|---|
| Wegovy Pill Sales | 5.39 billion DKK | 4.96 billion DKK |
The performance widened Novo's edge in oral GLP-1 drugs. Rival Eli Lilly launched its Foundayo pill in April, but it has not caught on as quickly. Sales of Foundayo reached $184 million in the third quarter, falling short of Wall Street estimates by $44 million.
Novo's shares jumped more than 6% in early U.S. trading on November 4, 2026, climbing above $42 per share. Its Copenhagen-listed shares were up 3.4% on the day, though they still show year-to-date losses of about 13%. The stock has lost about two-thirds of its value since trading above $140 in June 2024.
Market competition and challenges
Despite the Wegovy success, Novo faces intense pressure. Eli Lilly last week smashed analyst expectations for its own third-quarter revenue and claimed control of 63% of the U.S. market for drugs that modulate GLP-1 and other incretin hormones. Novo CEO Mike Doustdar, however, stated his company holds an 80% market share in the U.S.
Novo's pipeline has offered more headaches. The company suffered a key setback in a heart disease study and a failure in a trial that compared its next-generation obesity shot CagriSema with Lilly's Zepbound. It also lost a court battle to block Lilly ads featuring claims of obesity drug superiority.
The company is bracing for patent expirations on the main ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy several years before Lilly faces the same issue for Mounjaro and Zepbound. Citi analysts maintained a neutral rating on Novo stock due to uncertainty over weight-loss drug pricing and the lack of a clear successor to Wegovy.
Novo emphasized long-term plans to launch more blockbusters and highlighted progress with the Wegovy pill, which it expects to be available in more than 20 markets by next year. It is also preparing to launch CagriSema, a combination of semaglutide and cagrilintide. CEO Mike Doustdar cautioned that a full turnaround cannot be established on a single strong quarter. The company updated its full-year outlook to adjusted revenue and operating profit growth between negative 2% and 2% at constant exchange rates.
