{
  "id": 16717552,
  "title": "Novartis raises annual profit outlook after strong Q3 sales growth",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/novartis-raises-annual-profit-outlook-after-strong-q3-sales-growth",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-27T06:23:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/earnings/novartis-raises-annual-profit-outlook-after-strong-q3-sales-growth-4974242"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Novartis AG has raised its annual profit forecast following a strong third-quarter performance, driven by robust sales growth and margin expansion. The Swiss pharmaceutical company now anticipates its core operating income to either remain steady or increase by a low single-digit percentage, compared to the previous projection of a slight decline. Despite this positive outlook, the firm maintained its expectations for low single-digit sales growth.\n\nDuring the quarter ending September, net sales climbed by 4% to reach $14.52 billion, while core operating income expanded by 11% to $6.04 billion. This growth was primarily fueled by notable products, including Kisqali for breast cancer, Kesimpta for multiple sclerosis, and Scemblix. The cholesterol drug Leqvio also experienced a substantial surge in sales, up by 63%.\n\nHowever, the company reported a considerable decline in operating income, down 59% to $1.84 billion and net income falling by 70% to $1.20 billion. This drop was mainly attributed to a $1.9 billion partial impairment charge related to the experimental drug del-desiran, which failed to meet its primary endpoint in a recent late-stage trial for myotonic dystrophy type 1.\n\nChief Executive Vas Narasimhan attributed the improved outlook to a combination of priority brands, new launches, and productivity measures. Additionally, Novartis received positive results from a late-stage trial of remibrutinib, a promising candidate in the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis, further strengthening its development pipeline.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}