Novo Nordisk CEO Concedes Eli Lilly’s Market-Share Gains as Stock Slumps

Novo Nordisk's stock keeps falling even when the news is good, and CEO Mike Doustdar just admitted why. Eli Lilly is beating Novo at its own game.

Doustdar sat down with CNBC's Jim Cramer this week to explain the disconnect. Novo, famous for its GLP-1 medication Ozempic, raised its full-year sales guidance on August 4, narrowing its projected annual decline from 8% to 3% at the midpoint. Investors sold anyway. NVO shares dropped roughly 6% that day.

A Beat That Still Lost

Doustdar walked through the math on air. Novo slashed prices on Ozempic and Wegovy last year to widen patient access, and volume hasn't caught up yet to offset those cuts. He compared it to basic arithmetic. Halving a price means you need double the volume just to break even, and volume never doubles on day one.

That gap between falling average revenue per prescription and rising patient counts is exactly what has investors nervous. Novo's obesity and diabetes drugs now make up around 90% of its business, compared to about 60% at Eli Lilly, leaving Novo more exposed to any pricing or competitive shock in that single category.

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