Better Buy in 2026: Novo Nordisk or Intuitive Surgical?

• Novo Nordisk's caller indications for semaglutide and its charismatic pipeline could let it to bounce back.

• Intuitive Surgical should stay the person successful its niche contempt accrued competition.

• Both stocks could beryllium semipermanent winners, and the prime contiguous mightiness beryllium connected hazard tolerance.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than Novo Nordisk ›

Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) are some healthcare leaders, but they run successful antithetic corners of this immense sector. The erstwhile markets pharmaceutical drugs, portion the second develops and sells robotic-assisted country (RAS) devices, with its da Vinci strategy being the person successful its category.

They bash person 1 happening successful common, though: Novo Nordisk and Intuitive Surgical person some faced challenges this twelvemonth that person led to below-average stock-market performances. They could besides bounce backmost adjacent year. But which 1 is the amended enactment heading into 2026? Let's find out.

Novo Nordisk's fiscal results haven't matched investors' expectations this year. Top-line maturation declined, and the institution was forced to little its outlook arsenic it mislaid crushed successful the all-important GLP-1 market for value nonaccomplishment and diabetes medications, wherever it generates astir each of its revenue. However, respective things could assistance Novo Nordisk bounce backmost and execute good implicit the adjacent 5 years.

First, it should motorboat brand-new products. While CagriSema didn't rather conscionable management's people of a mean value nonaccomplishment of 25% successful a signifier 3 study, the 22.7% its grounds is inactive highly competitive. This medicine could assistance Novo Nordisk navigate an progressively crowded GLP-1 market. The institution should besides marque advancement with different late-stage candidates, including amycretin, which is being investigated successful benignant 2 diabetes and value loss. Newer products volition assistance boost income growth.

In the meantime, Novo Nordisk volition payment from caller (and pending) statement expansions for its astir important compound, semaglutide. It has earned caller approvals successful the U.S. and Europe for helping trim the hazard of large cardiovascular events, and for treating patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), an country with a precocious unmet need.

The institution could besides spot much regulatory nods soon for an oral mentation of semaglutide successful value loss, and for a higher dose of the medicine, which induced adjacent stronger value nonaccomplishment successful objective trials.

Even if they've fallen abbreviated of expectations, Novo Nordisk's fiscal results haven't been terrible. Through the archetypal 9 months of the year, income jumped 12% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to 229.9 cardinal Danish kroner ($36.2 billion). Net nett climbed 4% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to 75.5 cardinal DKK ($11.9 billion).