Novo Nordisk (NVO) had a good Wednesday morning. The Danish drugmaker reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook, and the stock rose 6.64% to $42.86 in premarket trading, according to market data.

The obesity business is doing the heavy lifting

Novo reported third-quarter sales of $11.90 billion (79.195 billion Danish kroner), which beat Wall Street's estimate of $11.39 billion. Sales rose 4% at constant exchange rates, driven by strong demand for GLP-1 drugs, particularly obesity treatments.

Obesity sales jumped 22% at CER to 26.146 billion kroner, fueled by higher sales volumes across markets. Diabetes sales, on the other hand, fell 5% at CER to 47.545 billion kroner. U.S. GLP-1 diabetes sales declined 10% at CER due to lower volumes and changes in wholesaler inventories. Injectable Ozempic sales fell 11% at CER, while oral semaglutide sales under the Rybelsus brand rose 5%. Weekly new-to-brand prescriptions for the Ozempic pill are now about 100% higher than pre-launch levels under the Rybelsus brand.

Profits got a boost from GLP-1 growth and lower transformation costs

Adjusted operating profit climbed 27% at CER to 31.720 billion kroner. GLP-1 sales growth and lower year-over-year transformation expenses supported profitability. The company recorded about 9 billion kroner in transformation costs a year earlier. This time around, roughly 3.5 billion kroner in one-time expenses partly offset the gains.

Adjusted earnings came in at 87 cents per share (5.79 kroner), beating analysts' estimate of 81 cents.

The Wegovy pill is a record-setter

Wegovy pill prescriptions reached about 3.6 million during the quarter, bringing the total to more than 8 million since launch. Novo described it as the strongest GLP-1 volume launch in U.S. history. The pill generated 4.178 billion kroner in U.S. sales during the quarter.

Injectable Wegovy sales reached 20.407 billion kroner, down 2% at CER. Total Wegovy pill sales reached 5.394 billion kroner, while Ozempic sales fell 5% to 29.706 billion kroner. Wegovy pill sales surged 53% from the previous quarter, beating the 4.62 billion kroner consensus estimate, Reuters reported.

CEO Mike Doustdar told Reuters that Novo has held its ground since Eli Lilly (LLY) launched its rival pill. Investors said Novo leads in oral obesity treatments, while Eli Lilly dominates the injectable market. However, they warned that competition could intensify.

The outlook is less bad, which counts as good news

Novo raised its 2026 forecast, citing stronger expectations for GLP-1 sales. The company now expects adjusted sales growth and adjusted operating profit growth of negative 2% to positive 2% at CER. Its previous forecast called for declines of up to 6%.

That's not exactly a victory lap, but it's a meaningful improvement. The market treated it as such.