Novartis delivered strong growth in priority brands and launches in Q1; FY 2026 guidance reaffirmed

Novartis delivered strong growth in priority brands and launches in Q1; FY 2026 guidance reaffirmed Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

First quarter

Basel, April 28, 2026 – Commenting on Q1 2026 results, Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, said:

“Novartis delivered a strong start to 2026 across our priority brands and launches, while US generic erosion weighed on results in Q1 as expected. We continued to advance our pipeline, with compelling Phase III results for remibrutinib in chronic inducible urticaria and Phase II data in food allergy, reinforcing the medicine’s pipeline-in-a-pill potential. We also completed the acquisition of Avidity and announced early-stage deals to support our breast cancer and allergic disease franchises. With the momentum we are seeing across the business, we remain on track to deliver our full year guidance and look forward to multiple readouts in the second half that could raise our mid- to long-term growth outlook.”

1. Constant currencies (cc), core results and free cash flow are non-IFRS measures. An explanation of non-IFRS measures can be found on page 32 of the Condensed Interim Financial Report. Unless otherwise noted, all growth rates in this Release refer to same period in prior year. 2. Please see detailed guidance assumptions on page 6. 3. USD millions unless indicated otherwise.

Strategy

Our focus

Novartis is a “pure-play” innovative medicines company. We have a clear focus on four core therapeutic areas (cardiovascular-renal-metabolic, immunology, neuroscience and oncology), with multiple significant in-market and pipeline assets in each of these areas, that address high disease burden and have substantial growth potential. In addition to two established technology platforms (chemistry and biotherapeutics), three emerging platforms (gene & cell therapy, radioligand therapy and xRNA) are being prioritized for continued investment into new R&D capabilities and manufacturing scale. Geographically, we are focused on growing in our priority geographies – the US, China, Germany and Japan.

Our priorities

Financials

First quarter

Net sales were USD 13.1 billion (-1%, -5% cc), with volume contributing 13 percentage points to growth, more than offset by 14 percentage points of generic competition. Pricing had a negative impact of 4 percentage points, including net 1 percentage point from revenue deduction adjustments in the US, and currency had a positive impact of 4 percentage points.

Operating income was USD 4.2 billion (-9%, -11% cc), declining due to lower net sales and higher R&D investments, partly offset by higher divestment gains.

Net income was USD 3.2 billion (-13%, -13% cc), mainly due to lower operating income. EPS was USD 1.65 (-10%, -11% cc), due to lower net income, partly offset by the benefit of the lower weighted average number of shares outstanding.

Core operating income was USD 4.9 billion (-12%, -14% cc), declining due to lower net sales and higher R&D investments. Core operating income margin was 37.3% of net sales, decreasing 4.8 percentage points (4.1 percentage points in cc).

Core net income was USD 3.8 billion (-15%, -17% cc), mainly due to lower core operating income. Core EPS was USD 1.99 (-13%, -15% cc), due to lower core net income, partly offset by the benefit of the lower weighted average number of shares outstanding.

Free cash flow amounted to USD 3.3 billion, broadly in line with the prior-year quarter.

Q1 priority brands

Underpinning our financial results in the quarter is a continued focus on key growth drivers (ranked in order of contribution to Q1 growth) including:

Net sales of the top 20 brands in the first quarter

*Q1 sales growth impacted by US revenue deduction adjustments in the current and prior year.

R&D update – key developments from the first quarter

New approvals

Regulatory updates

Results from ongoing trials and other highlights

Capital structure and net debt

Retaining a good balance between investment in the business, a strong capital structure, and attractive shareholder returns remains a priority.

In Q1 2026, Novartis repurchased a total of 10.4 million shares for USD 1.6 billion on the SIX Swiss Exchange second trading line under the up-to USD 10 billion share buyback announced in July 2025 (with up to USD 6.1 billion still to be executed). In addition, 2.0 million shares (equity value of USD 0.3 billion) were repurchased from employees. In the same period, 12.3 million shares (equity value of USD 0.3 billion) were delivered to employees related to equity-based compensation plans. Novartis aims to offset the 2026 dilution related to equity-based compensation plans of employees over the remainder of the year, in addition to the share repurchases under the up-to USD 10 billion share buyback. Consequently, the total number of shares outstanding decreased by 0.1 million versus December 31, 2025. These treasury share transactions resulted in an equity decrease of USD 1.6 billion and a cash outflow of USD 1.9 billion.

Net debt increased to USD 38.1 billion at March 31, 2026, compared to USD 21.9 billion at December 31, 2025. The increase was mainly due to the free cash flow of USD 3.3 billion being more than offset by the net cash outflow for M&A and intangible asset transactions of USD 12.5 billion, the USD 6.2 billion annual net dividend payment in March (which is the gross dividend of USD 9.1 billion reduced by the USD 2.9 billion Swiss withholding tax paid in April 2026, according to its due date), and cash outflows for treasury share transactions of USD 1.9 billion.

As of Q1 2026, the long-term credit rating for the company is Aa3 with Moody’s Ratings and AA- with S&P Global Ratings.

2026 outlook

Foreign exchange impact

If late-April exchange rates prevail for the remainder of 2026, the foreign exchange impact for the year would be positive 2 percentage points on net sales and positive 1 percentage point on core operating income. The estimated impact of exchange rates on our results is provided monthly on our website.

Key figures 1

Detailed financial results accompanying this press release are included in the Condensed Interim Financial Report at the link below:

https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/resource/download/7a686324-051d-4316-adeb-1161ff818fc8/

Disclaimer

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that can generally be identified by words such as “expected,” “anticipated,” “can,” “will,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “growth,” “launch,” “expanded,” “deliver,” “accelerate,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “priority,” “potential,” “momentum,” “on track,” “look forward,” or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding: potential new products, potential new indications for existing products, potential product launches or potential future revenues from any such products; or results of ongoing clinical trials; potential future, pending or announced transactions; potential future sales or earnings; strategy, plans, expectations or intentions, including discussions regarding our continued investment into new R&D capabilities and manufacturing; our capital structure. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this communication will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. Neither can there be any guarantee that the expected benefits or synergies from the transactions described in this communication will be achieved in the expected timeframe, or at all. In particular, our expectations could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties concerning: global healthcare cost containment, including ongoing government, payer and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; the success of key products, commercial priorities and strategy; the research and development of new products, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection, including the ultimate extent of the impact on Novartis of the loss of patent protection and exclusivity on key products; our ability to realize the strategic benefits, operational efficiencies or opportunities expected from our external business opportunities; the development or adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, and new business models; the implementation of our new IT projects and systems; potential significant breaches of information security or disruptions of our information technology systems; actual or potential legal proceedings, including regulatory actions or delays or government regulation related to the products and pipeline products described in this communication; safety, quality, data integrity, or manufacturing issues; our performance on and ability to comply with environmental, social and governance measures and requirements; major macroeconomic and geo- and socio-political developments, including the impact of any potential tariffs on our products or the impact of war in certain parts of the world; future global exchange rates; future demand for our products; and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG’s most recently filed Form 20-F and in subsequent reports filed with, or furnished to, the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this communication as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

All product names appearing in italics are trademarks owned by or licensed to Novartis.

About Novartis

Novartis is an innovative medicines company. Every day, we work to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives so that patients, healthcare professionals and societies are empowered in the face of serious disease. Our medicines reach more than 300 million people worldwide.

Reimagine medicine with us: Visit us at https://www.novartis.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram.

Novartis will conduct a conference call with investors to discuss this news release today at 14:00 Central European time and 8:00 Eastern Time. A simultaneous webcast of the call for investors and other interested parties may be accessed by visiting the Novartis website. A replay will be available after the live webcast by visiting https://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar.

Detailed financial results accompanying this press release are included in the Condensed Interim Financial Report at the link below. Additional information is provided on our business and pipeline of selected compounds in late-stage development. A copy of today's earnings call presentation can be found at https://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar.

Important dates

# # #

Please find full media release in English attached and on the following link:

Media Release (PDF)

Further language versions are available through the following links:

German version is available through the following link:

Medienmitteilung (PDF)