Novartis lifted its 2026 core operating income outlook after third-quarter sales and adjusted profitability improved, even as a clinical-trial setback drove a large asset write-down and sharp declines in reported earnings.
The Swiss drugmaker now expects core operating income to be at least in line with 2025, with room for growth at a low-single-digit rate, measured in constant currencies. It kept its 2026 sales forecast at low-single-digit growth on the same basis; both projections assume no unforeseen events. Its previous core operating income forecast called for a low-single-digit decline.
For the three months through Sept. 30, net sales were $14.522 billion, up 4% in U.S. dollars and in constant currencies from a year earlier. Core operating income climbed to $6.036 billion, up 11% in U.S. dollars and 10% after currency effects were excluded. Core operating margin was 41.6%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points on a reported basis and 2.0 percentage points in constant currencies.
Volume added 14 percentage points to quarterly sales growth. Generic competition reduced growth by nine percentage points, while pricing took away one percentage point, Novartis' interim report showed. In constant currencies, Kisqali sales increased 37% to $1.821 billion, Kesimpta rose 22% to $1.484 billion and Scemblix advanced 67% to $593 million. CEO Vas Narasimhan said the company's “priority brands and launches more than offset generic erosion.”
Reported results were much weaker: operating income fell 59% to $1.843 billion, while net income decreased 70% to $1.196 billion. Novartis booked a $1.94 billion partial impairment of its del-desiran research asset in September, after the Phase III HARBOR study did not meet its primary endpoint in people with myotonic dystrophy type 1. The company said secondary endpoints and exploratory analyses showed evidence of clinical activity and that it was assessing the drug's development path.
In the first nine months, sales were $42.043 billion, up 2% in U.S. dollars but flat in constant currencies. Core operating income totaled $16.873 billion, down 1% in U.S. dollars and 2% in constant currencies. Novartis classifies core and constant-currency results as non-IFRS measures. Its next results announcement, covering the fourth quarter and full year, is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2027.
