Erste Group Bank Weighs in on Novartis FY2026 Earnings

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank decreased their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Novartis in a research note issued on Tuesday, May 12th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the company will post earnings of $8.64 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $8.70. The consensus estimate for Novartis’ current full-year earnings is $8.85 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Trading Up 0.7%

Novartis stock opened at $149.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Novartis has a 52 week low of $109.29 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a market capitalization of $284.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.20.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. Novartis’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 1.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,275,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,649,000 after acquiring an additional 41,520 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,507,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.9% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Opal Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 12.2% in the first quarter. Opal Capital LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 70.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Novartis

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.