Novo Nordisk CEO: Wegovy pill 'exceeded our expectations'

The Wegovy pill looks like a win for Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) after what some on Wall Street saw as a slower-than-expected consumer uptake.

"The Wegovy pill has exceeded our expectations," Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar said on Sozzi Unleashed . Doustdar said the pill will be available in 20 countries by next year.

Novo Nordisk continued down its path of delivering better results for investors on Wednesday.

Third quarter sales gained 4% to DKK 79.2 billion ($11.9 billion).

Sales of the new Wegovy pill hauled in DKK 5.4 billion ($811 million). The pill was available in the US, UAE, UK, and Germany and has since expanded to four additional markets.

The company raised its full-year outlook for the second time in three months, driven by strength in the Wegovy pill.

Novo Nordisk sees sales and adjusted operating profits rising as much as 2% this year. In August, the company issued an outlook for sales and profit growth ranging from flat to a 6% decline.

"Overall, given the stronger than expected results with a 8% sales beat and 12% operating profit beat and the upgraded guidance implying c. 3% upgrades to Consensus, we expect the shares to outperform by 3-5% today," JPMorgan analyst Richard Vosser said.

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