Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), which develops and markets diabetes and obesity treatments, closed Wednesday at $38.16, down 1.11%. The stock slipped as investors weighed a large Vivtex partnership while watching how competition and margins shape Novo’s obesity and diabetes franchise. Trading volume reached 54.7 million shares, about 141% above its three-month average of 22.7 million shares. Novo Nordisk IPO’d in 1981 and has grown 23,750% since going public.

The S&P 500 added 0.82% to finish Wednesday at 6,947, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.26% to close at 23,152. Within pharmaceuticals, industry peers showed mixed action as Eli Lilly closed at $1,028.83, down 1.28%, while Novartis ended at $166.85, off 0.16%.

It has been a rough week for Novo Nordisk as its shares have dropped 20% over the last five business days. On Monday, the stock declined roughly 15% after its next-gen obesity medicine CagriSema reported less weight loss than Eli Lilly’s new drug in a similar Phase 3 trial, tempering sales expectations. Then on Tuesday, Novo Nordisk announced it would cut prices for Wegovy and Ozempic by 35% to 50% in the U.S. on Jan. 1, 2027.

These two news items prompted JPMorgan and Kepler Capital Markets to downgrade NVO stock. Today, the company signed a $2.1 billion partnership with Vivtex to develop higher-bioavailability biologics, which could help it fight back against Eli Lilly. I like the deal, and at 11 times earnings, Novo is an intriguing value stock to consider.

Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Novo Nordisk wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $420,864!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,182,210!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 903% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 192% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of February 25, 2026.