Novartis Raises Guidance After Trial Setbacks Hit Profit
By Adria Calatayud
Novartis raised its full-year earnings guidance, citing solid sales growth and productivity gains, even as recent clinical-trial setbacks hit the Swiss drugmaker's bottom line in the third quarter.
The company said Tuesday that it now expects 2026 core operating profit to rise by a low single digit percentage when excluding the effect of currency changes. It had previously projected a decline for the metric.
"Novartis delivered solid sales growth in [the third quarter], as priority brands and launches more than offset generic erosion, demonstrating the replacement power of the business," Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said.
For the third quarter, the company reported a net profit of $1.20 billion compared with $3.93 billion for the same period last year. The result was partly due to a $1.9 billion write-down for neuromuscular drug candidate del-desiran after it missed the mark in a late-stage clinical trial.
Excluding exceptional items, core operating profit climbed 10% at constant currency to $6.04 billion. The result compared with analysts' expectations of $5.61 billion, according to consensus estimates provided by Visible Alpha.
Novartis's quarterly sales rose 4% to $14.52 billion.
Full-year sales are still expected to grow by a low single digit, excluding currency effects, Novartis added.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2026 02:39 ET (06:39 GMT)
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