A man injects the drug Ozempic into his stomach with a syringe to treat type 2 diabetes. (Getty Images)

Novo Nordisk cuts outlook again amid obesity drug slowdown and Pfizer bidding war

The Q3 earnings report comes at a tumultuous time for the company.

Novo Nordisk reported quarterly earnings results that missed Wall Street estimates, as the company fights a bidding war that could determine its future in the obesity drug market.

The Danish pharmaceutical giant reported quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $0.70, compared to the $0.76 analysts had estimated, per Bloomberg-compiled estimates. It also reported $11.7 billion in sales, short of the $11.9 billion the Street had penciled in. Novo trimmed its full-year growth forecast for the fourth time this year, too, and now projects sales growth of 8% to 11% and operating profit growth of 4% to 7%, down from its previous 8%-14% and 4%-10% forecasts, respectively.

The earnings report comes at a tumultuous time for the company. It is bidding against Pfizer for obesity biotech company Metsera, which is working on next-generation GLP-1 drugs. This comes after its top investor shook up the board last month, accusing the previous directors of not being aggressive enough in the weight loss drug race.

Novo was the first to bring GLP-1s to market but has seen its sales growth fade in recent quarters as it faces increased competition from Eli Lillyand telehealth companies who sell copies of its drugs, such as Hims & Hers.

Shares slumped as much as ~4% overnight, but have since rebounded to trade around 1.2% higher in the premarket at the time of writing. The stock is still down around 44% in the year to date.

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Pinterest sinks after weak revenue guidance and Q3 adjusted EPS misses estimates by 10%

Pinterest plunged nearly 18% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after the company reported lower-than-expected earnings and a weak holiday-quarter forecast after the bell on Tuesday.

The social media platform posted adjusted EPS of 38 cents, below Wall Street's 42-cent estimates, while revenue matched analysts' expectations at $1.05 billion, up 17% from a year earlier.

The fly in the earnings ointment appears to be the guidance, however, with Pinterest only expecting Q4 sales of $1.31 billion to $1.34 billion, with the midpoint trailing analysts' $1.34 billion forecast.

Global monthly active users came in at an all-time high of 600 million, beating expectations, but average revenue per user came in at $1.78, slightly shy of projections. During the earnings call, CFO Julia Donnelly said the company saw "pockets of moderating ad spend" in the third quarter, as "larger US retailers navigate tariff-related margin pressure."

The company's soft results come as its peers, including Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet, recently reported strong digital ad sales.

CEO Bill Ready said Pinterest’s AI push is “paying off,” highlighting last week's launch of its AI-powered shopping assistant, Pinterest Assistant. Still, growth in its core North American market — which generates roughly three quarters of its revenue — remains a drag heading into the holiday season.