Ozempic Maker’s Obesity-Fueled Gains Seen Slowing After Banner Year

  • Analysts see 9% upside after company became Europe’s biggest
  • Some say valuation is stretched as Novo faces more competition

Ozempic injection pens on a conveyor at Novo Nordisk A/S production facilities.

Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg
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A frenzy around obesity drugs made Novo Nordisk A/S Europe’s biggest stock-market success story of 2023. Repeating the trick won’t be so easy.

Shares of Novo, which makes the diabetes drug Ozempic and weight loss medicine Wegovy, have risen 42% this year, as investors latched on to the growth potential of a market that some analysts predict could reach $100 billion by 2030. The rally made it Europe’s biggest company and pushed the Danish firm’s value past the size of its domestic economy.