NVO stock: Why did Novo Nordisk shares drop 20% today—and who is Maziar Mike Doustdar?

Health-related stocks are not having a good day. First, America’s largest health insurance provider, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), saw its stock drop more than 4% this morning after the company announced disappointing second-quarter results and a full-year 2025 forecast that concerned investors. And now, the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk A/S, whose shares (NYSE: NVO) trade on the New York Stock Exchange, is seeing its stock price plunge, too.

Currently, NVO shares are down more than 20% at the time of this writing. But unlike UnitedHealth Group, Novo Nordisk has not reported its most recent quarterly results. So what’s sending its shares lower? Here’s what you need to know.

Novo Nordisk cuts full-year 2025 guidance

The main driver of Novo Nordisk’s significant share price fall today is the company’s announcement that it is revising its previously published sales growth and operating profit growth for its full fiscal year 2025.

On May 7, Novo Nordisk stated that it expected full-year fiscal 2025 sales growth to be between 13% and 21%. At the same time, it said it expected its operating profit growth to be between 16% and 24%.

Now, however, the company had drastically cut both forecasts. Novo Nordisk now says it expects full-year fiscal 2025 sales growth to be between 8% and 14% and operating profit growth to be between 10% and 16%.

In a statement, the company said its “lowered sales outlook for 2025 is driven by lower growth expectations for the second half of 2025.”

This lowered growth is due to lower growth expectations for its GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic, in the U.S. market.

“For Wegovy in the US, the sales outlook reflects the persistent use of compounded GLP-1s, slower-than-expected market expansion and competition,” the company said. It added that as far as Ozempic was concerned, “the updated outlook is negatively impacted by competition in the U.S.”

Novo Nordisk’s main competitor in the GLP-1 arena is the American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, who makes the drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Novo Nordisk names new CEO

Besides revising its 2025 growth forecasts downward, Novo Nordisk also made another announcement today: It named a new CEO.

However, this announcement probably had little to do with the stock’s fall this morning. Back in May, Novo Nordisk announced that its longtime CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen would be stepping aside. At the time, the company cited its declining share price as one of the reasons for the CEO shakeup. It also said Jørgensen would stay on as CEO until a successor was found.

Now, one has been. Today, Novo Nordisk announced that Maziar Mike Doustdar will be assuming the position of president and chief executive officer, effective August 7, 2025. Doustdar is currently the company’s executive vice president of international operations.

Announcing Doustdar’s ascent to the CEO role, Novo Nordisk chair Helge Lund said: “This is an important moment for Novo Nordisk. The market is developing rapidly, and the company needs to address recent market challenges with speed and ambition. I believe Novo Nordisk will build on its strengths as a global leader in obesity and diabetes, and Mike has a clear vision of how to unlock the full potential of the opportunities ahead.”

Doustdar will officially take over as CEO one day after the company reports its second quarter 2025 results on August 6.

Novo Nordisk shares have fallen dramatically since last summer

While the GLP-1 drugs Wegovy and Ozempic have been a massive source of growth and profits at Novo Nordisk in the first half of this decade, recently, the company has faced increased competition in the GLP-1 marketplace, which has partly contributed to investor concerns.

Partially as a result, Novo Nordisk stock has steadily declined since last summer. Over the past year, NVO shares are down more than 57%. And since the beginning of 2025, the company’s share price has declined more than 35%.

As of the time of this writing, NVO shares are down just over 20% this morning to $55.17 per share.