By Adria Calatayud


Novartis shares dropped after the Swiss pharmaceutical giant reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that missed consensus expectations and issued guidance that analysts said fell short of hopes.

At 0819 GMT on Wednesday, shares in Novartis traded down 4.7% at CHF88.27, but remained up 4% since the beginning of the year.

Novartis reported core operating profit--one of its preferred earnings metrics, which strips out exceptional items--of $3.82 billion, up 4.8% compared with the year-earlier period, on sales that climbed 8% to $11.42 billion.

Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had forecast the company's quarterly sales at $11.51 billion and core operating profit at $4.08 billion.

Looking forward, the company forecast growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range for sales and high-single-digit for core operating income this year, excluding currency movements.

Analysts at Jefferies said Novartis's 2024 guidance points to sales of between $46.7 billion and $48.0 billion, and a core operating profit of $17.0 billion to $17.5 billion.

Current consensus expectations stand at $47.69 billion for sales and $18.0 billion for core operating profit, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.


Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-31-24 0342ET