10 Best Major Stocks to Invest In According to Analysts

5. Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)

Average Upside Potential: 23.27%

Market Cap as of September 26: $422.71 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67

Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) is a global healthcare company that specializes in diabetes and obesity care and rare diseases. They develop, manufacture, and market insulin and other diabetes medications. Novo Nordisk is known for its leadership in the diabetes market, innovative product pipeline, and commitment to improving the lives of people with diabetes.

This company is a dominant player in the GLP-1 weight loss market. With a 69% global market share, Ozempic leads the way at 46%. The success of Ozempic has driven a 64% increase in the company’s trailing 12-month revenue. Its long-term prospects remain strong, as the market for obesity-fighting drugs is expected to exceed $130 billion by 2030.

Revenue for the second quarter of 2024 was $9.96 billion, up 24.50% year-over-year, driven by both operating units, with North American operations growing 36% and international operations growing 11%. In the US, sales growth was positively impacted by gross-to-net sales adjustments related to prior years.

The GLP-1 sales increased in diabetes by 32%, insulin sales increased by 10%, Obesity Care sales increased by 37%, and Diabetes Care sales grew by 25%. The total global diabetes value market share resultantly increased to 34.1%, offset slightly by rare disease sales decreased by 3%

The company’s stock is up 44% over the past year primarily on the back of its Wegovy weight loss drug, which was approved in China in late June. Its expertise in diabetes drugs, which are precursors to weight loss treatments, has enabled the company to stay ahead in researching new weight loss therapies.

With over 42 million patients taking the company’s diabetes and obesity treatments, Novo Nordisk’s (NYSE:NVO) focus on expanding access to obesity treatments is expected to drive long-term growth.

Artisan Global Equity Fund stated the following regarding Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in its Q1 2024 investor letter:

“In addition, shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) rose after it reported phase 1 clinical trial results for its new experimental obesity drug Amycretin, a single molecule that operates as a GLP-1 receptor agonist, reducing one’s appetite. The new oral treatment achieved a 13.1% average weight loss after 12 weeks, more than doubling the efficacy of Wegovy for the same time span. This result also bested Lilly’s Orfoglipron, another experimental drug that achieved 5%–6% average weight loss earlier in its trials. While the Amycretin data are preliminary, investors were encouraged by the prospects of Novo Nordisk solidifying a best-in-class obesity designation, a desirable status given rising competition. In our view, Novo Nordisk has the best obesity/Type 2 diabetes pipeline in the industry, which should help protect this franchise from competition over the next 10 years.”