Novartis (NYSE:NVS) reported full-year 2025 results marked by high single-digit sales growth, double-digit core operating income growth, and the achievement of its 40% core margin target two years ahead of schedule, management said on the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year results call.
Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan said Novartis delivered “high single-digit growth” in 2025 and reached a 40.1% core margin ahead of the company’s original 2027 plan. For the full year, sales rose 8% and core operating income increased 14% to CHF 21.9 billion, while core EPS rose 17% to $8.98. Free cash flow grew 8% to CHF 17.6 billion, which CFO Harry Kirsch called an all-time high for the company.
Fourth-quarter results influenced by generics and U.S. adjustments
Management also cited the impact of U.S. generic entries, including Entresto, Promacta, and Tasigna, which entered the U.S. market mid-2025. Narasimhan said Q4 sales were also affected by gross-to-net dynamics and Entresto’s loss of exclusivity.
Priority brands drive growth as Novartis highlights launch execution
Narasimhan emphasized continued momentum across a set of growth brands that he said is positioned to carry Novartis “through the end of the decade” and, for many products, into the mid-2030s. In aggregate, he cited 35% growth across the portfolio.
- Kisqali: Full-year sales rose 57% to CHF 4.8 billion. Narasimhan said the brand outpaced the CDK4/6 market, and he reiterated confidence in a $10 billion peak sales outlook. He attributed a perceived “miss” versus consensus to one-time R&D-related adjustments. He highlighted early breast cancer new-to-brand prescription share above 60% in the U.S. and “over 80%” in Germany’s early breast cancer setting.
- Kesimpta: Full-year sales increased 36% to $4.4 billion. Narasimhan said growth was supported by expansion of B-cell therapies in multiple sclerosis, noting increasing adoption in treatment-naïve patients and leadership in new-to-brand share across most tracked major markets outside the U.S. Management reiterated a $6 billion-plus peak sales outlook and referenced work on an every-two-month formulation.
- Pluvicto: The company reported 42% constant-currency growth and said Pluvicto reached $2 billion in global sales. Narasimhan described strong uptake in the U.S. pre-taxane setting and noted approvals in Japan and China, with launches expected to support ex-U.S. acceleration. He said Novartis submitted an sNDA for a hormone-sensitive setting that would expand the eligible population versus existing settings, and he highlighted ongoing manufacturing and site expansion to support radioligand therapy scale-up.
- Leqvio: Leqvio reached blockbuster status in the quarter, with 57% full-year growth and 46% Q4 growth. Narasimhan pointed to continued U.S. momentum and highlighted that China’s NRDL listing began in early January, with “very strong” early signals for uptake.
- Scemblix: Scemblix posted 87% growth in Q4 and reached blockbuster status, with new-to-brand prescription leadership in the U.S. and Japan. Narasimhan said U.S. share across all lines reached 41% and that first-line share was in the “mid-20% range,” with an ambition to increase further. He reiterated confidence in a $4 billion-plus outlook.
- Cosentyx: Full-year sales grew 8% to $6.7 billion, with 11% growth in Q4. Narasimhan said U.S. growth was driven by hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and IV formulation demand. He also said Novartis completed an FDA submission for polymyalgia rheumatica and expects to file in the EU and Japan in the first half.
Pipeline updates include submissions, study changes, and key readouts
Novartis highlighted several pipeline and regulatory developments. Narasimhan noted a submission for remibrutinib in the most common subtype of chronic inducible urticaria, with additional readouts for two other subtypes expected in the first half of the year. During Q&A, he said remibrutinib already has an approved label “without any liver safety discussion,” and that FDA requested limited monitoring “out of an abundance of caution” after competitor findings. He said Novartis plans to advocate for the current label if phase III trials continue to show no liver signal.
The company also discussed adjustments to its renal portfolio development plans. Novartis said it amended the zigakibart phase III protocol to align a proteinuria readout with an interim eGFR readout, now expected in the first half of 2027, with the goal of supporting a BLA for full approval. Narasimhan said the strategy was intended to support label and competitive positioning, given the competitive landscape and Novartis’s existing renal franchise.
On pelabresib, Narasimhan described 96-week data from the Phase III MANIFEST program and said it provided “a path forward” for registration, assuming successful regulatory and clinical outcomes. He cited deep and durable spleen responses, improvements in symptom scores and anemia, and a safety profile comparable to ruxolitinib, including comparable leukemic transformation rates. Novartis said it has an agreement with the EU to file in 2026 based on the dataset, and plans a new Phase III study in the U.S., China, and Japan targeting patients with high baseline symptom burden.
Novartis also pointed to its global health efforts, highlighting data for a new malaria medicine candidate combination (KAF156/ganaplacide plus lumefantrine) that it described as showing a high cure rate and a three-day course compared with a five-day comparator regimen.
2026 outlook: “Year of two halves,” with Avidity deal impact
Incoming CFO Mukul Mehta, who is set to take over in mid-March, provided 2026 guidance and said the year would reflect the “highest GX impact” in Novartis history. The company guided to low single-digit sales growth and a low single-digit decline in core operating income, including a one-to-two percentage point core margin dilution related to the previously announced Avidity deal.
Mehta said Novartis expects to close the Avidity deal in the first half of 2026 and indicated the transaction is anticipated to be primarily debt-funded. For 2026, management expects core net financial expenses of about $1.7 billion and a core tax rate around 16.5%.
Mehta described 2026 as “a year of two halves,” with first-half sales expected to decline low single-digit and core operating income expected to decline low double-digit due to a tough comparison base following mid-2025 generic entries. In the second half, he said Novartis expects sales to grow mid-single-digit and core operating income to grow mid- to high single-digit.
Kirsch also reviewed capital allocation actions, including more than $10 billion invested in R&D in 2025, completion of a CHF 15 billion buyback program and launch of a new up to CHF 10 billion program through 2027, and a proposed dividend of CHF 3.70 per share. Kirsch said this marked the company’s 29th consecutive dividend increase in Swiss francs since its creation in 1996, and he noted the call was his final earnings call as CFO.
About Novartis (NYSE:NVS)
Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.
The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.
