Shares in Copenhagen plunged 20%, the steepest drop since last July, as hopes for a bottom after a multi-year bear market faded.

Novo's warning on 2026 profits suggests it will be a tough year within the GLP-1 market. The company faces a multi-front battle, with Eli Lilly's Zepbound gaining ever-larger market share in the U.S. and continued pressure from copycat versions of Ozempic.

UBS analyst Matthew Weston had already been anticipating soft initial guidance at the start of the year.

Weston warned of even tougher U.S. injectable volumes than assumed, including cannibalization from oral Wegovy and potentially orforglipron; tougher U.S. injectable pricing, with volume growth likely to come from the lower-priced cash-pay channel. He repeated his 'neutral' rating on the stock.

Here's what other top Wall Street analysts had to say (courtesy of Bloomberg):

BMO Capital Markets (market perform)

The beats on the top and bottom lines were "overshadowed by a soft 2026 guide," analyst Evan Seigerman says

"While early signs of growth exist for the Wegovy pill, concessions for injectable GLP-1s are clearly impacting the topline offsetting gains in the oral market," Seigerman writes

Intron Health (sell)

The guidance is a "big miss," analyst Naresh Chouhan writes

"Guidance is messy as the company has moved to an adjusted sales and EBIT measure to exclude the 340b provisions that they took over the last few years and now expect a big reversal in 2026," Chouhan adds

Jefferies (underperform)

Analyst Michael Leuchten says the disappointing outlook "will weigh heavy"

Sales aim suggests high single-digit consensus cuts, "albeit perhaps without aggressive oral Wegovy assumptions," while adjusted profits outlook suggests low double-digit consensus cuts