Novo Nordisk's net sales are what remains after rebates, and a Wegovy list price multiplied by a prescription count is a different sum from the one in the annual report. Investors often talk as if one GLP-1 line were the whole company, as if the US sticker were the cash collected, and as if a script tally were earnings. The 2025 accounts, filed with the annual report and on Form 20-F, keep those three ideas on separate pages. Gross sales were DKK 729,423 million. Net sales were DKK 309,064 million. The gap between them, DKK 420,359 million of rebates, discounts and returns, is larger than net sales itself.
Sales rose 6% in Danish kroner and 10% at constant exchange rates, to that DKK 309,064 million. On our calculation from those two reported totals, net sales were 42.4% of gross sales. Anyone who starts from a wholesale acquisition cost and a prescription feed is building a third number the group does not book.
Updated 28 October 2026, with the ADR reference print taken from the 27 October 2026 close.
One GLP-1 line leaves most of the group outside it
Diabetes care was DKK 207,109 million, flat in kroner and up 4% at constant exchange rates. GLP-1 products for type 2 diabetes were DKK 152,202 million, up 2% in kroner and 6% at constant exchange rates. Ozempic was DKK 127,089 million, Rybelsus DKK 22,093 million and Victoza DKK 3,020 million, and those three add to the GLP-1 diabetes total, while insulin was DKK 53,137 million, leaving a residual of DKK 1,770 million inside diabetes care.
Obesity care was DKK 82,347 million, up 26% in kroner and 31% at constant exchange rates. Form 20-F puts Wegovy at DKK 79,106 million, US Operations at DKK 51,015 million and International Operations at DKK 28,091 million, and Saxenda at DKK 3,241 million. Wegovy plus Saxenda equals the obesity total.
Rare disease was DKK 19,608 million, up 5% in kroner and 9% at constant exchange rates. The three therapy areas add to group net sales. Ozempic is 41.1% of net sales on our calculation from the reported figures, and Wegovy is 25.6%. Reading a print line by line is the same habit as in Compare Lam Research (LRCX) Earnings, Line by Line.
The global diabetes value market share fell 3.6 percentage points to 30.1%. Inside GLP-1 diabetes the company reports a value market share of 45.8%. The GLP-1 share of diabetes prescriptions rose to 8.1% from 6.7%, and the report says a patient can hold a prescription for more than one diabetes treatment. A higher prescription share and a 2% kroner rise in GLP-1 diabetes sales can sit together because they measure different things.
| Line | 2025 net sales | Share of DKK 309,064 million |
|---|---|---|
| Diabetes care | 207,109 | 67.0% |
| GLP-1 diabetes products | 152,202 | 49.2% |
| Ozempic | 127,089 | 41.1% |
| Rybelsus | 22,093 | 7.1% |
| Victoza | 3,020 | 1.0% |
| Insulin | 53,137 | 17.2% |
| Obesity care | 82,347 | 26.6% |
| Wegovy | 79,106 | 25.6% |
| Saxenda | 3,241 | 1.0% |
| Rare disease | 19,608 | 6.3% |
| Group net sales | 309,064 | 100% |
List price is the number the charge-back leaves behind
Note 2.1, reproduced with the Form 20-F interactive data, is the page that settles the sticker question. The four US lines in the table sum to the reported US total of DKK 394,631 million, so adding that subtotal on top of the components counts the US twice. Non-US deductions were DKK 25,728 million and total adjustments DKK 420,359 million, which is how gross sales of DKK 729,423 million become net sales of DKK 309,064 million.
The note says that US total corresponded to 70% of gross sales in the US, against 69% in 2024 and 74% in 2023. Dividing the same US total by worldwide gross sales gives 54.1% on our calculation. Wholesaler charge-backs are defined there as contractual sales at prices lower than the list price originally charged to wholesalers, which is why the sticker and net sales are different figures in the same note.
Managed Care and Medicare rebates are estimated and generally settled around 100 days out, and Medicaid rebates around 150 days. At 31 December 2025 the 340B statutory-discount provision stood at USD 4.2 billion after a USD 0.4 billion reduction in the year, booked only where a significant reversal looked unlikely. The rebate line is an estimate settled in cash later.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | 729,423 | 680,563 | 608,645 |
| US Managed Care and Medicare | (247,003) | (238,946) | (223,191) |
| US wholesaler charge-backs | (69,504) | (64,437) | (74,435) |
| US Medicaid rebates | (38,749) | (32,919) | (31,821) |
| Other US discounts and sales returns | (39,375) | (30,737) | (28,481) |
| US rebates, discounts and sales returns | (394,631) | (367,039) | (357,928) |
| Non-US rebates, discounts and sales returns | (25,728) | (23,121) | (18,456) |
| Total gross-to-net adjustments | (420,359) | (390,160) | (376,384) |
| Net sales | 309,064 | 290,403 | 232,261 |
On 24 February 2026 Novo Nordisk said that from 1 January 2027 the wholesale acquisition cost of Wegovy injection 2.4 mg and tablets 25 mg, Ozempic injection 0.5 mg, 1 mg and 2 mg, and Rybelsus tablets 7 mg or 14 mg would be $675, about 50% lower for Wegovy and about 35% lower for Ozempic than the list price then in force, across all doses of these medicines. The release says that list-price change leaves direct-to-patient, self-pay prices on their existing terms. A lower sticker and an unchanged self-pay price are both in that paragraph.
Jamey Millar, executive vice president, US Operations of Novo Nordisk, said in that 24 February 2026 release: "The lower list price is intended to connect more people with our innovative medicines, specifically those whose out-of-pocket costs are linked to list price, such as individuals with high-deductible health plans or co-insurance benefit designs." Out-of-pocket costs linked to list price are a slice of patients. They are the cash the patient pays. They are still a third figure beside WAC and beside net sales.
The company account made a version of this distinction years before the 2027 cut. On 9 February 2023 @novonordisk said US medicine prices are negotiated with insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, and that patients rarely pay list price.
The way our medicine prices are determined varies from country to country. In US it involves negotiations with insurance companies and pharma benefit managers. Patients rarely pay the list price but get discounts. You can read more here if interested: https://t.co/VbfpW2EpxE.
— Novo Nordisk (@novonordisk) February 9, 2023
Payment networks have their own version of a deduction sitting between volume and what the company keeps. The desk's comparison of Visa (V) vs Mastercard (MA) After Client Incentives follows that incentive gap rather than stopping at a headline volume.
A prescription count answers a different question from profit
The annual report says global branded GLP-1 obesity market volume grew 104%, and that Novo Nordisk held a 59.6% branded volume share. Obesity-care sales grew 31% at constant exchange rates and 26% in kroner. Pasting 104% into a revenue model swaps a market-volume statistic for a company sales growth rate. Beside the 59.6% share, the report says that in International Operations tirzepatide, Eli Lilly's rival incretin, is categorised under GLP-1 diabetes only in IQVIA data, despite obesity indications in most launched countries.
Form 20-F states that average US prices after rebates declined in 2025 as payers pressed for higher rebates, including in GLP-1, and it gives the direction with a single portfolio percentage withheld. US Operations sales still rose 3% in kroner and 8% at constant exchange rates, while International Operations rose 10% and 14%. The annual report's outlook assumed further volume, countered by lower realised prices, including the Most Favoured Nations agreement, and treated the 2025 US gross-to-net adjustments as unlikely to recur. Later announcements can revise that wording.
| What was measured | 2025 figure | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Obesity-care sales growth, Danish kroner | 26% to 82,347 | Company net sales, DKK million |
| Obesity-care sales growth, constant exchange rates | 31% | Company net sales |
| Global branded GLP-1 obesity market volume growth | 104% | Market volume |
| Novo Nordisk branded obesity volume share | 59.6% | Volume share |
| GLP-1 diabetes sales growth, Danish kroner | 2% to 152,202 | Company net sales, DKK million |
| GLP-1 share of diabetes prescriptions | 8.1%, from 6.7% | Prescriptions, and a patient may hold more than one |
| US average price after rebates | Declined | Form 20-F, direction only |
Profit sits another floor down. Cost of goods sold was DKK 58,788 million and the gross margin 81.0%, against 84.7% in 2024. Sales and distribution costs were DKK 64,310 million, 20.8% of sales, and research and development was DKK 52,039 million. Operating profit was DKK 127,658 million, down 1% in kroner and up 6% at constant exchange rates, after around DKK 8 billion of third-quarter restructuring. The effective tax rate was 21.5%. Net profit rose 1% to DKK 102,434 million and diluted earnings per share rose 2% to DKK 23.03.
Free cash flow was DKK 28.3 billion, against a negative DKK 14.7 billion in 2024. Capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment was DKK 60.1 billion. A prescription chart contains none of those lines. On 4 August 2026 the company account pointed readers to a release that raised the adjusted sales outlook and the adjusted operating-profit outlook.
#PRESS: Novo Nordisk raises adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit outlook for 2026.
— Novo Nordisk (@novonordisk) August 4, 2026
Read more here: https://t.co/2AJbwb7KTO pic.twitter.com/Yh6eXWvhA1
The ADR print is a dollar price for a receipt
Novo Nordisk stock, the NYSE ADR under the ticker NVO, closed at $38.67 on 27 October 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, according to stockanalysis.com, retrieved 28 October 2026, with the session marked closed. The day was a loss of $0.46, or 1.18%, from a prior close of $39.13, on volume of 6,775,935 shares. The quote's 52-week high was $64.16 and the 52-week low $35.12, separate from the closing high and low in the daily history below.
RelatedCrowdStrike (CRWD): shares rise 8.25% on channel data
The series runs from a close of $52.05 on 28 October 2025 to $38.67 on 27 October 2026, 25.7% lower on our calculation from those two closes. The highest close was $63.98 on 26 January 2026 and the lowest was $35.29 on 30 March 2026. The January close sits under the quote's 52-week high of $64.16 because that high can print inside a session while the chart uses closes. The accounts are in Danish kroner and the ADR quote is in dollars.
Several factors sit under one share price, which is the question in Which Five Factors Move UnitedHealth (UNH) Shares?.
A checklist before a script chart becomes a sales chart
The shortcut fails in a specific place. List price times prescriptions produces a gross-looking figure that Novo Nordisk does not report as revenue. Net sales are already after the DKK 420,359 million of adjustments. Operating profit and net profit come after production, selling and research costs. Volume growth of 104% describes a market, while the 31% constant-currency figure describes Novo Nordisk's obesity-care sales.
- Gross sales, the US rebate subtotal and net sales, from note 2.1, for the same year, with the US lines added once.
- The 70% read as a share of US gross sales, which is how the 2025 note states it, alongside the separate ratio to worldwide gross sales.
- Ozempic, Wegovy, insulin and rare disease, each with its own reported sales line.
- Market volume growth and prescription share in a different column from company net sales, including the report's warning that one patient can hold more than one diabetes prescription.
- The IQVIA categorisation of tirzepatide in International Operations, so the 59.6% obesity volume share is read with that caveat.
- The dated wholesale acquisition cost, and the company's statement on whether self-pay prices move with it.
- Operating profit, net profit, free cash flow and capital expenditure, beside sales.
- The ADR close, with timestamp and dollar unit, kept apart from the kroner accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wegovy the whole of Novo Nordisk?
Wegovy net sales were DKK 79,106 million in 2025, about 25.6% of group net sales of DKK 309,064 million, using the Form 20-F product figure and the annual-report total. Obesity care, which also includes Saxenda at DKK 3,241 million, was DKK 82,347 million. Diabetes care was larger, at DKK 207,109 million, and rare disease added DKK 19,608 million. One product can dominate the conversation and still leave most of the group on other lines.
Does Novo Nordisk collect the US list price?
Note 2.1 starts from gross sales of DKK 729,423 million and reaches net sales of DKK 309,064 million after DKK 420,359 million of rebates, discounts and returns. US items were DKK 394,631 million, which the note says was 70% of gross sales in the US. Charge-backs are the difference between list price and a lower contract price. Net sales are what remains after those deductions, so the sticker and the collected figure are different accounts.
Why is a prescription count a weak stand-in for earnings?
Branded GLP-1 obesity market volume grew 104% in the 2025 report, while Novo Nordisk obesity-care sales grew 31% at constant exchange rates and 26% in Danish kroner. GLP-1 diabetes sales rose 2% in kroner as the GLP-1 share of diabetes prescriptions rose to 8.1%. The report says a patient can hold more than one diabetes prescription. Net profit was DKK 102,434 million, after costs that a script count leaves out.
What did Novo Nordisk say about the January 2027 list price?
On 24 February 2026 the company said the US wholesale acquisition cost of specified Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus doses would be $675 from 1 January 2027, about 50% lower for Wegovy and about 35% lower for Ozempic than the list price then in force. The release says that list-price change leaves direct-to-patient self-pay prices on their existing terms. A new sticker still passes through rebates before it becomes the net sales line in a future report.
What does the ADR price have to do with the Danish kroner accounts?
The NYSE ADR closed at $38.67 on 27 October 2026, a dollar price for the US-listed receipt, from stockanalysis.com. The 2025 accounts are in Danish kroner, with net sales of DKK 309,064 million and diluted earnings per share of DKK 23.03. The one-year closing path in the chart runs from $52.05 to $38.67. The share price summarises the market's reading. It is a separate series from product sales.
Disclosure. Figures come from Novo Nordisk's 2025 annual report, Form 20-F and note 2.1, the 24 February 2026 US list-price release, posts from @novonordisk, and the stockanalysis.com quote and history retrieved 28 October 2026. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold Novo Nordisk shares or any other security.