Better Long-Term Buy: AbbVie or Novo Nordisk?

Pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) seem to be headed in separate directions. Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, thanks to growing sales of diabetes drug Ozempic and obesity therapy Wegovy, is predicting sales to grow between 24% to 30% and operating profit to rise 28% to 34% this year. AbbVie, on the other hand, thanks to the loss of patent protection for immunology blockbuster Humira, has forecasted 2023 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to drop by 20% to 23%, from 2022 levels.