[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses higher across the board, Novo falls on disappointing Wegovy sales and DKK 6bln charge
- European bourses continue to climb, with gains seen across the board. Focus will be on the potential announcement of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. On the data front, EZ and UK final PMIs printed a tick higher. For the EZ figure, S&P highlighted that the rise in the headline output index indicates quarterly GDP growth of 0.3%. For the ECB, S&P Global stated that, with the renewed flare-ups in the Middle East leading to upside risks to inflation, it should put policymakers in a more hawkish stance. However, with the PMI price gauges dropping markedly, it may provide a window for a delay of further hikes.
- Sectors point to a positive bias. Basic Resources top the sector pile, with Retail and Media rounding out the sector outperformers. To the downside is Banks, with Consumer Products & Services and Tech completing the bottom 3 laggards.
- Novo Nordisk reported earnings late on Tuesday, with Q2 revenue and Adj. Q2 revenue and Adj. EBIT beat estimates, and raised its FY26 EBIT guidance to between 0% and -6%. However, Wegovy pill sales disappointed (DKK 3.22bln vs exp. 3.3bln). Analysts at Sydbank explain that Novo's pipeline is a key reason for the near 4% drop in shares this morning, highlighting the disappointing data for its CagriSema compared to competitor Eli Lilly's (LLY) Mounjaro. To add, the Co. booked a DKK 6bln non-cash impairment charge related to intangible pipeline assets,
- Other key earnings include: Infineon (-5.2%), Q3 revenue beat but Segment and Net missed, with Q4 segment guidance also below consensus; Siemens Energy (+0.4%), Q3 revenue and orders beat and confirms FY26 view; Fresenius SE (+5.9%), Q2 revenue beat and raises its FY26 core EPS guidance; Glencore (+3.5%), H1 revenue topped estimates and announces an additional USD 1.5bln of shareholder return.
- US equity futures trade mixed, with the NQ printing modest losses. After hours, AMD reported Q2 metrics that beat estimates; however, shares are down over 8% pre-market after its outlook failed to meet lofty investor expectations. SpaceX also reported its first set of earnings; Q2 revenue beat consensus; however, it highlighted higher-than-expected capex on its AI business, resulting in shares falling nearly 10% pre-market.
The session wraps of this kind, where a broad index bid sits alongside sharp single-name dispersion, tend to be read as rotation rather than macro repricing: breadth across European bourses points to a benign tape while the Novo drop is a stock-specific event with limited read-across beyond the obesity peer set. Novo's pattern is familiar from prior episodes in the GLP-1 space: headline beats overwhelmed by a pipeline and competitive read-through, with the Lilly comparison acting as the benchmark against which every Novo data point is now scored, so relative trial and sales prints have mattered more than absolute results. The impairment is non-cash and relates to intangible pipeline assets, a distinction that matters for how durable the de-rating proves versus a guidance-driven move. On the macro side, final PMIs revised a tick higher with falling price gauges, and the Hormuz reopening question is the live tail risk: shipping and insurance costs transmit through energy and freight into the inflation outlook, which is where the hawk-versus-pause framing for the ECB actually bites. The follow-ons are whether the sector leadership (Basic Resources over Banks and Tech) holds through the US session, and whether the pre-market tech weakness in AMD and SpaceX, both punished for capex and outlook despite beats, extends the recent pattern of high-expectation names being sold on anything short of perfect guidance.