Novartis reported a 19% drop in second-quarter net profit to $3.26 billion, weighed down by higher taxes and interest expenses even as the Swiss drugmaker posted a 3% increase in sales. Revenue reached $14.41 billion in the three months ended June 2026, the company said.
Core earnings per share held steady at $2.41, while Rhapsido, a treatment approved in the U.S. in September 2025 and in the European Union in April 2026, generated $64 million in sales during the quarter.
For the first half of 2026, Novartis booked $27.5 billion in net sales, up 1% year on year, though net profit fell 16% to $6.41 billion. The company confirmed its full-year 2026 forecast of low single-digit sales growth while flagging that core operating income is expected to decline.