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Key Takeaways
- Novartis beat first-quarter forecasts for profit and sales on rising demand for its blockbuster drugs.
- Revenue from the Swiss-based pharmaceutical firm’s top-selling medicines, Entresto and Cosentyx, climbed 36% and 25%, respectively.
- Novartis also boosted its full-year sales and core operating income guidance.
American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Novartis (NVS) rose in intraday trading Tuesday as the Swiss-based pharmaceutical firm reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and boosted its guidance on strong demand for its top-selling drugs, Entresto and Cosentyx.
The company posted core net income of $1.80 per share, with revenue increasing 9.5% to $11.83 billion. Both were above estimates.
Sales of heart medicine Entresto jumped 36% to $1.88 billion, as the drug had greater penetration in the U.S., Europe, and China. Psoriasis treatment Cosentyx had a 25% gain in sales to $1.33 billion, with growth mainly in the U.S., Europe, and emerging market nations.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vas Narasimhan said the company’s performance was “broad-based, across all key growth brands and geographies.”
Novartis now predicts full-year sales will climb by high-single-digit to low-double-digit percent, up from its earlier forecast of mid-single-digit percent. It sees core operating income advancing by low-double-digit to mid-teens percent, compared with the previous outlook of high-single-digit percent growth.
Despite Tuesday’s 2.5% move higher to $97.45 as of 12:14 p.m. ET, Novartis ADRs remain lower for 2024.