Novo Nordisk Steps Up Buyback as Legal Clouds Gather Ahead of Earnings
Published on 07/29/2026 at 13:12 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Novo Nordisk has accelerated its share repurchase program, buying 960,000 B-shares in just five trading sessions between July 20 and July 24, 2026. The Danish pharmaceutical giant is now executing one of Europe’s largest ongoing buyback schemes, with the latest tranche authorized under the EU Market Abuse Regulation on May 6, 2026.
The broader program, launched on February 4, 2026, authorizes repurchases of up to 15 billion Danish kroner and runs through February 2027. Under the current tranche, Novo Nordisk plans to buy back B-shares worth approximately 11.2 billion kroner by February 1, 2027. Since February, the company has already acquired 25,919,179 B-shares at an average price of 276.33 kroner each, representing a transaction volume of roughly 7.16 billion kroner.
The pace has picked up markedly in recent weeks. At the start of July, Novo Nordisk held 40,194,480 treasury B-shares, equivalent to 0.9 percent of its capital. Three weeks later, that figure has jumped to 43,104,480 shares — now representing 1.0 percent of the total share capital of 4.465 billion A- and B-shares.
The buybacks come against a backdrop of significant stock recovery. From a 52-week low of €30.25 on March 2, 2026, the share price has climbed nearly 48 percent to trade at €44.76. Still, that leaves it 18.41 percent below its January high of €54.86. The company is buying aggressively while the stock remains well off its peak, a dynamic that underscores management’s view of the shares as undervalued.
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Legal Headwinds on Two Fronts
Adding to the uncertainty weighing on the stock is a pair of legal battles. A federal judge in New Jersey ruled on Tuesday that Novo Nordisk must face portions of a shareholder lawsuit alleging the company misled the public about post-hoc changes to the study protocol for its obesity combination drug CagriSema. The case stems from December 20, 2024, when the stock plunged 17.8 percent after CagriSema showed a weight loss of just 20.4 percent — well short of the company’s self-imposed target of 25 percent. The judge allowed the specific claim that Novo Nordisk altered the study design to mask weak results, while dismissing other allegations about misleading statements on “unprecedented” efficacy and “fixed doses.”
At the same time, Novo Nordisk has gone on the offensive against rival Eli Lilly. On July 21, the company filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. competitor of deceptive advertising for its weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro. The complaint alleges that Lilly’s marketing compares high doses of its own products to higher doses of Wegovy and Ozempic without adequate disclosure. A hearing for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for August 27. The legal escalation highlights the intensifying competition in the GLP-1 duopoly.
Market Takes Legal News in Stride
Despite the legal developments, the stock closed at €44.66 on Tuesday, up 2.07 percent. The market’s muted reaction suggests investors are focused elsewhere — namely on the August 5 second-quarter earnings report. Consensus estimates call for earnings per share of $0.82, a decline of roughly 15.5 percent year-over-year, on revenue of $11.27 billion, also below the prior-year period. Zacks Investment Research maintains a “Strong Sell” rating on the stock, while the price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 sits well above the industry average of 2.69, signaling that the market has already priced in significant growth expectations.
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Fundamentals Offer a Counterweight
Yet the company’s underlying financial strength provides a counterbalance to the legal and competitive pressures. The dividend yield stands at 3.55 percent, with a payout ratio of 50 percent, and the dividend has grown at an average annual rate of roughly 28 percent over the past three years. Operating profitability remains robust, even as the pipeline has suffered setbacks — including the failure of an Alzheimer’s study program using the older drug Rybelsus last November.
For investors, the next weeks present a complex picture: an accelerating buyback program providing structural demand support, legal proceedings on both sides of the Atlantic, and an earnings report that will test whether the stock’s recovery from its March lows is justified. The buyback program runs through February 2027, with Novo Nordisk now holding about one percent of its own shares in treasury. How the CagriSema litigation and the Lilly advertising dispute evolve will likely determine whether the stock can close the gap to its January high.
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