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If You Invested $1000 in Novo Nordisk 10 Years Ago, This Is How Much You'd Have Now

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How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

FOMO, or the fear of missing out, also plays a role in investing, particularly with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to NVO for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Novo Nordisk's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Novo Nordisk's main business drivers.

Bagsværd, Denmark-based Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company and a leader in the worldwide diabetes market with a full portfolio of GLP-1 receptor agonists, modern insulins and human insulins. The company is also a key player in hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy, hormone replacement therapy and obesity.

Novo Nordisk operates through two segments: Diabetes and obesity care and Rare diseases. While the Diabetes and obesity care segment covers insulins, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), other protein-related products, obesity and oral anti-diabetic drugs, the Rare diseases segment includes hemophilia, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy.

Novo Nordisk’s most well-known drugs include Levemir, NovoRapid, Victoza, Ozempic, NovoMix, NovoSeven, NovoThirteen, Ryzodeg, Xultophy, Saxenda, Rybelsus, Esperoct, Sogroya and Norditropin, among several others. The company launched its first product for weight management, Saxenda, in the United States in 2015.

Wegovy, Novo Nordisk’s other obesity care product, was approved by the FDA in June 2021, following which it faced supply issues in the United States, which led to a decline in sales upon launch. However, the issue was resolved by Novo Nordisk, making all dose strengths of Wegovy available in the United States in December 2022. The company is also looking to expand the drug’s indication as an adjunctive treatment for the prevention of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) over a period of up to five years.

In October 2022, Novo Nordisk acquired Forma Therapeutics for $1.1 billion. Forma Therapeutics is a company focused on providing innovative treatment to transform the lives of patients suffering from sickle cell disease (SCD) and rare blood disorders. The acquisition of the company along with Forma’s lead development candidate, etavopivat, complements Novo Nordisk’s vision to accelerate its scientific presence and pipeline in hemoglobinopathies.

Novo Nordisk generated revenues of DKK 177 billion in 2022 compared with DKK 141 billion in 2021. Revenues increased by 26% in Danish kroner and 16% at the currency exchange rate.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio requires research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Novo Nordisk ten years ago, you're likely feeling pretty good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in August 2013 would be worth $5,138.60, or a gain of 413.86%, as of August 15, 2023, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

The S&P 500 rose 166.39% and the price of gold increased 34.45% over the same time frame in comparison.

Analysts are forecasting more upside for NVO too. Novo Nordisk missed second-quarter earnings and sales estimates despite strong performance by the diabetes and obesity care segment. It has one of the broadest diabetes portfolios in the industry. Ozempic and Rybelsus have been performing well in the market. Saxenda and Wegovy sales have been gaining momentum. Label expansions of diabetes and obesity care drugs are likely to further boost sales. Novo Nordisk raised its 2023 view along with its second-quarter results, expecting better sales of its GLP-1 diabetes products. Its diversifying efforts to develop new treatments are encouraging. However, competition is getting stiffer from pharma bigwigs like Pfizer, who are likely to eat away from Novo Nordisk’s Diabetes care market share. Patent expiry and pricing pressure across the diabetes market also remain a woe. Shares of the company have outperformed the industry in the past year. The stock has jumped 11.49% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 3 higher, for fiscal 2023; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.


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