Amgen stock gains on Novo Nordisk's weightloss drug blunder

Amgen stock gained more than 2% in Friday’s morning session after foreign weightloss drug competitor Novo Nordisk (NVO) plunged following the results of new drug testing. As one of the leaders in weightloss pharmaceuticals, the news led other pharma stocks to run higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index surged 1.8%, its best outing in awhile and especially after its historic ten-session pullback ended on Thursday by a hair. The DJIA is leading the NASDAQ and S&P 500 moderately at the time of writing.

The US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report for November is also cheering stock investors after Wednesday and Thursday witnessed widespread negativity over the Fed’s hawkish outlook. US inflation in the PCE arrived lower than economists had projected, which may mean that the Fed’s worries over inflation are likely to clear up in subsequent reports.

Amgen stock news

Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of the Wegovy and Ozempic weightloss drugs, released data on the third phase of testing for its new CagriSema drug. CagriSema is supposed to be its next-generation drug for weightloss. 

However, the data showed that CagriSema caused users to lose 20% of their weight after 68 weeks. This was in line with existing weightloss medicines and well below the 25% guidance that Novo Nordisk had previously aimed for.

Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Zepbound already reduces weight among its users by 23%, according to similar testing. Since the weightloss drug industry is expected to grow to $150 billion annually by 2030, the competitive nature of the sector has pushed up the competitors to Novo Nordisk.

One of those competitors is Amgen, which has been testing the MariTide drug for the same purpose. The company released test results in late November that showed the drug caused weight loss of up to 20% in obese and overweight individuals over a 52-week period. However, the results also showed that it might be causing patients to lose bone mineral density.

Amgen stock forecast

Amgen’s Thursday low of $253.30 was its lowest price since October 31, 2023, but the pharma stock rode an afternoon wave of optimism to produce a near 1% gain by the close. Friday is confirmation that the mood has changed.

Shares have risen back above the $261 level that acted as support on a number of occasions in late 2023 and throughout 2024. If AMGN stock can retain this region above $261, then the worst may be over. Shares of the pharmaceutical corporation have been trending lower since achieving an all-time high in July of this year above $346.

Still, lows created on November 26 and December 19 below $261 lead us to believe that the bottom may not be in. A third break below $261 will have many traders expecting the stock to dump all the way to the May through July 2023 lows in the demand zone stretching from $211 to $218.

AMGN daily stock chart