Ozempic Maker Beats Bernard Arnault's LVMH As Europe's Most Valuable Firm With Stunning $423B Market Cap

Danish biopharma Novo Nordisk A/S NVO is reaping windfalls from its weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which continue to fly off the shelves.

What Happened: In a significant move, Novo Nordisk’s shares on the Copenhagen stock exchange closed Friday’s session at 1,301.20 Danish Krone, marking a 2.14% gain for the session. 

This achievement propelled the company to a market capitalization of 2.912 trillion Danish Krone ($423.64 billion), making it the most valuable European company. 

Novo Nordisk has now surpassed luxury products company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA LVMUY LVMHF, led by Bernard Arnault — the world’s second-richest person after Tesla’s Elon Musk — with a net worth of approximately $183 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

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Gigantic Market Cap: Notably, Novo Nordisk’s market capitalization exceeds Denmark’s GDP, which stood at $395.4 billion in 2022, underscoring the biopharma company’s prominence in the country. 

Novo Nordisk holds the largest weighting in the OMX Copenhagen 25 Index, the Danish stock exchange’s benchmark index, with a 17.09% weighting.

Why It Matters: The biopharma company is capitalizing on the booming demand for weight-loss drugs, with demand far outpacing supply. 

Its first-half results, released in early August, reflected this trend with a 29% year-over-year increase in net sales and a 43% surge in net profit. The second quarter also witnessed robust performance, with net sales and net profit climbing by 32% and 46%, respectively.

Notably, sales of the diabetes drug Ozempic surged by 58% in the first half, while Wegovy sales experienced a remarkable 367% jump. Wegovy, a 2.4 mg once-weekly injection, received FDA approval in June 2021 for obesity treatment, while Ozempic has been used off-label for weight loss. Bolstered by these strong results, Novo Nordisk raised its full-year guidance.

Furthermore, Novo Nordisk’s shares received a boost prior to the earnings report due to positive trial results for semaglutide 2.4 mg, indicating its potential as a preventive option for major cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes.

Price Action: On the NYSE, Novo Nordisk’s shares closed Friday’s session at $189.31, marking a 1.99% increase, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Read Next: Novo Nordisk’s Famed Drug Ozempic Could Be Contender For Medicare Negotiations

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