Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Novartis Q1 Earnings

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Novartis in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $2.43 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.08. The consensus estimate for Novartis’ current full-year earnings is $8.45 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Novartis’ Q2 2027 earnings at $2.46 EPS and Q3 2027 earnings at $2.44 EPS.

Several other research firms have also commented on NVS. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $163.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $346.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $167.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.66.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 425.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $4.773 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 36.31%.

Key Novartis News

Here are the key news stories impacting Novartis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big pipeline/licensing wins — Novartis struck multiple peptide/macrocyclic licensing agreements that carry up-to-$1.7B–$1.8B upside, boosting long?term growth and pipeline value. Unnatural Products, Novartis sign license deal worth up to $1.7 billion for cardiovascular program Novartis inks licensing deal worth up to $1.8B for oral peptide drugs
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic divestiture — Novartis agreed to sell its entire ~70.68% stake in its listed Indian unit to a WaveRise/ChrysCapital/Two Infinity consortium, which should generate cash proceeds and simplify the portfolio. Novartis to sell entire 71% stake in Indian unit to consortium of WaveRise Investments
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. manufacturing expansion and political visibility — CEO Vas Narasimhan met with President Trump; Novartis says it is building 11 U.S. plants, a move that supports supply?chain resilience and could curry regulatory/political goodwill. Trump meets Novartis CEO, says drugmaker building 11 US plants
• Positive Sentiment: Clinical progress — Novartis reported pivotal trial success for a therapy targeting itchy skin conditions, which supports near?term R&D momentum and potential label/launch upside. Itchy skin conditions? Novartis’ pivotal trial success shows potential for targeted relief
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary — General investor pieces are weighing Novartis’ valuation and pipeline positioning; these provide context but contain no single news item likely to move the stock materially on their own. Where is Novartis AG (NVS) Headed?
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed / lower near?term analyst estimates — Zacks Research issued a batch of revisions: they trimmed FY2026 and FY2027 targets and cut Q1/Q2 2026 EPS forecasts while raising some later-year estimates. The downward near-term revisions could pressure sentiment despite longer-term upside. (Zacks Research reports, Feb. 18–19)

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.