NVO
Novo Nordisk A/S
NVO has the edge over WAT overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
WAT
Waters Corporation
WAT has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
NVO Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Healthy |
NVO's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its cash flow is stable.
WAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Unavailable | |
| Under pressure |
WAT's revenue is currently strong, and its profitability is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its cash flow.
NVO PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 10x | $40.65 | — |
| Cheap | 14x | $53.56 | +32% |
| Fair | 27x | $103 | +154% |
| Expensive | 39x | $152 | +273% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NVO has the edge over WAT in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
WAT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 25x | $59.10 | -87% |
| Forward | 29x | $462 | — |
| Fair | 30x | $69.21 | -85% |
| Expensive | 36x | $83.13 | -82% |
| Current | 198x | $462 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WAT's PE is in its expensive range at 198x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 29x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
NVO Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Stable | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect NVO's revenue to grow, but its profitability to weaken. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
WAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Limited | |
| High |
WAT has the edge over NVO on the outlook, with more favorable earnings expectations.
NVO Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $3.89 | +4.9% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.07 | +17% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.42 | +1.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.47 | +10% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.71 | +24% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.49 | +18% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.36 | +21% |
| Q3 2024 | $3.15 | +27% |
NVO has the edge over WAT on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
WAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $15.99 | +586% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.33 | -79% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.01 | -64% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.87 | -29% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.77 | +0.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $10.88 | +3.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $11.09 | +10% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.02 | +8.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.71 | -1.3% |
WAT's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $2.33 over the past year, against $11.75 in late 2022.
NVO Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $11.7B | +2.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $14.4B | +24% |
| Q4 2025 | $11.8B | -7.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.1B | +5.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $11.4B | +13% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.6B | +19% |
| Q4 2024 | $12.7B | +30% |
| Q3 2024 | $10.6B | +21% |
NVO's revenue is growing: $11.7B last quarter, up 2.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 34% | -9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 62% | +12 points |
| Q4 2025 | 40% | -2.8 points |
| Q3 2025 | 32% | -16 points |
| Q2 2025 | 44% | +5.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 50% | +1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 43% | +2.2 points |
| Q3 2024 | 47% | +1.6 points |
NVO has the edge over WAT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
WAT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.8B | +121% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | +113% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.3B | +91% |
| Q4 2025 | $932.4M | +6.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $799.9M | +8% |
| Q2 2025 | $771.3M | +8.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $661.7M | +3.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $872.7M | +6.5% |
WAT's revenue has grown year over year for nine quarters in a row: $1.8B last quarter, up 121% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.2% | -17 points |
| Q2 2026 | -5.2% | -30 points |
| Q1 2026 | -3.7% | -27 points |
| Q4 2025 | 29% | -4.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 24% | -4.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -2.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 23% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 33% | +1.3 points |
WAT's operating margin was 7.2% last quarter, down 17 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
NVO Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $6.3B | +73% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.8B | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | -$5.4B | -$4.7B |
| Q3 2025 | $4.6B | -2.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.6B | -34% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.5B | +89% |
| Q4 2024 | -$632.6M | +$390.5M |
| Q3 2024 | $4.7B | +3.3% |
NVO has the stronger cash trend. Its trailing FCF is down 14% versus its history, compared with WAT at down 48%.
WAT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $54M | -71% |
| Q2 2026 | $153M | +272% |
| Q1 2026 | -$42M | -116% |
| Q3 2025 | $187.3M | -8.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $41.1M | -25% |
| Q1 2025 | $259.6M | -1.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $240.1M | +4.4% |
| Q3 2024 | $204.6M | +30% |
WAT still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2020 peak: $352M over the past year.
NVO Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.3% | -12.9M shares |
| 1 year | -0.2% | -11M shares |
| 3 years | -1.5% | -66.8M shares |
| 5 years | -3.8% | -177M shares |
| Available history | -6.5% | -311M shares |
NVO has the edge over WAT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $520M |
| Q1 2026 | $356.7M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | $206.3M |
| Q4 2024 | $1.1B |
| Q3 2024 | $357.4M |
NVO spent $877M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 48% from the year before.
WAT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +66% | +39.2M shares |
| 1 year | +66% | +39.3M shares |
| 3 years | +67% | +39.7M shares |
| 5 years | +58% | +36.4M shares |
| Available history | +54% | +34.7M shares |
WAT has 99M diluted shares, up 66% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1M |
| Q2 2026 | $2M |
| Q1 2026 | $12M |
| Q4 2025 | $144,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $214,000 |
| Q2 2025 | $375,000 |
| Q1 2025 | $13.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $66,000 |
WAT has spent almost nothing on buybacks in the past year.
NVO Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2024 | -0.0x | Very low |
NVO has the edge over WAT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
WAT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 4.6x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.5x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4x | Healthy |
WAT's net debt is about 3.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year a year ago.
NVO Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 27.0 | Neutral |
NVO's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 27 (neutral).
WAT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 71.2 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 79.0 | Neutral |
WAT's weekly RSI is 71 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 79 (neutral).
NVO PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | NVO | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 10x | 26x | 60% below |
| PE % | 6 | 29 | 23 pts below |
NVO has the edge over WAT on valuation relative to its sector.
WAT PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | WAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 198x | 26x | 667% above |
| PE % | 100 | 29 | 71 pts above |
WAT is trading at 198x earnings, a 667% premium to the Healthcare sector's median of 26x.
NVO Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $39.2 | 3.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $43.9 | 7.4% below |
| 50 week MA | $45.3 | 10% below |
| 100 week MA | $56.3 | 28% below |
| 200 week MA | $80.7 | 50% below |
NVO has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-week average, but 50% below its 200-week average.
WAT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $445.7 | 3.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $416.3 | 11% above |
| 50 week MA | $375.3 | 23% above |
| 100 week MA | $361.7 | 28% above |
| 200 week MA | $336.3 | 37% above |
WAT has the edge over NVO on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
NVO Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $29.1 | $34.7 | +19% |
| 2021 | $34.7 | $54.2 | +56% |
| 2022 | $54.2 | $67.0 | +24% |
| 2023 | $67.0 | $103.5 | +54% |
| 2024 | $103.5 | $87.4 | -16% |
| 2025 | $87.4 | $52.4 | -40% |
| 2026 YTD | $52.4 | $40.7 | -22% |
NVO has finished higher in four of the last six years, two of them by more than 50%. It's down 22% so far in 2026.
WAT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $233.8 | $247.1 | +5.7% |
| 2021 | $247.1 | $361.7 | +46% |
| 2022 | $361.7 | $346.7 | -4.2% |
| 2023 | $346.7 | $329.2 | -5% |
| 2024 | $329.2 | $374.6 | +14% |
| 2025 | $374.6 | $386.1 | +3.1% |
| 2026 YTD | $386.1 | $462.2 | +20% |
WAT has the edge over NVO on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.