Novartis sales and profit grow but miss estimates
Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis on Wednesday reported 10% growth in net sales and 18% higher core operating income.
However, core net income came in below consensus analyst expectations.
It said it expected net sales growth by a mid-single digit and core operating income to growth by a high single digit this year.
“A lot of great growth drivers are performing really well. So right now we have about 10 different products that had positive Phase III readouts last year, that gives us a lot of momentum,” Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro.
“The difference in 2024 is we do face some products losing exclusivity. So we have three products … which we expect to lose exclusivity in the United States. So that creates a little bit of headwinds for us. But overall, when you look at the underlying growth of our growth drivers, they are growing at double digits, and that should continue.”
The U.S. remains a key focus for the company, Narasimhan said, where it is targeting 50% of its sales.
Novartis share price.
Novo Nordisk beats expectations amid weight-loss drug boom
Novo Nordisk share price.
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported sharply higher sales and forecast growth for 2024 between 18% and 25% as its drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, used to treat diabetes and for weight loss, experience increased demand.
The Danish pharmaceutical company’s net sales rose 31% year-on-year in 2023, to 232.26 billion Danish krone ($33.7 billion). Operating profit rose 37%, while fourth-quarter profit was above expectations.
Novo Nordisk has soared in value over the last year, at times becoming Europe’s most valuable firm by market capitalization.
The 2023 results were fueled by strong performance in the company’s diabetes and obesity care division, with obesity care in particular spiking by 154% at CER to 41.6 billion.
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— Jenni Reid
CNBC Pro: Want to invest in China’s booming EV market? These ETFs could offer a good way in
As China’s electric vehicle market goes from strength to strength, investors worldwide are showing a growing interest in getting involved.
“We’re particularly bullish on this fanning out of Chinese competitiveness in EV makers,” Kingsley Jones of boutique advisory firm Jevons Global told CNBC’s Pro Talks on Thursday. “There’s lots of them.”
However, significant hurdles remain for retail investors before they can be part of China’s EV growth story. For example, many stockbrokers charge a premium to trade Hong Kong-listed stocks, and Chinese regulations prevent retail investors abroad from buying mainland-listed “A-shares” directly.
Instead, the veteran investor pointed out that ETFs with concentrated positions remain viable options for those seeking exposure to the Chinese EV growth potential.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Fed move toward rate cuts is ‘like turning a battleship,’ economist says
Wilmington Trust chief economist Luke Tilley said Tuesday that he isn’t expecting any big changes in the Federal Reserve’s posture tomorrow, but that the central bank could keep laying the groundwork for rate cuts later this year.
“When the Fed changes communication, it’s really slow. It’s like turning a battleship. They do it very, very slowly. And what they need to start pivoting towards is sort of confirming the expectation of rate cuts more and more,” Tilley said.
The Wilmington Trust team expects the first rate cut from the Fed to come on May 1.
The Fed could also point to international developments like the conflict in the Middle East as a potential reason for caution on inflation, Tilley said.
“I think they will always point out risk factors, upside risk factors, for inflation, especially as they are trying to temper market expectations for a whole lot of cuts. I don’t think that that would cause them to not cut, but they will definitely cite some of those risks,” he said.
— Jesse Pound
CNBC Pro: Analysts are so bullish on this global chip stock they keep naming it as their top pick
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are set to open in mixed territory Wednesday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 5 points higher at 7,637, Germany’s DAX down 9 points at 16,963 and France’s CAC down 5 points at 7,672, according to data from IG.
Earnings come from Novo Nordisk, Novartis, H&M and Banco Santander. Data releases include France and Germany’s January inflation data and German unemployment figures for January.
— Holly Ellyatt
