Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook for Novartis Q1 Earnings

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Novartis in a research note issued on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $2.26 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.27. The consensus estimate for Novartis’ current full-year earnings is $8.45 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Novartis’ Q4 2026 earnings at $2.04 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $9.22 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.46 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $10.16 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Cfra set a $126.00 target price on shares of Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $135.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.60. Novartis has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after buying an additional 1,377,252 shares during the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 12,664.1% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,407 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 77.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,362,000 after acquiring an additional 720,860 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth approximately $64,563,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 85.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,035,000 after purchasing an additional 480,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Novartis

Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.