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Stock · Trading days

Novo Nordisk (NVO)

Novo Nordisk's returns, drawdowns, and beta to S&P 500, in one view.

Last updated:

Gale Finance Team
Written by Gale Finance Team
Sid Kalla
Reviewed by Sid Kalla CFA Charterholder
Quick Answer

What is Novo Nordisk's risk, return, and volatility like?

Novo Nordisk returned -29.9% over the 1Y window. On the 5Y lens, Sharpe ratio is 0.21, annualized volatility is 38.2%, and max drawdown is -75.6%.

Total Return
1Y -29.9%
5Y +27.9%
Sharpe Ratio
1Y -0.48
5Y 0.21
Annualized Volatility
1Y 52.5%
5Y 38.2%
Max Drawdown
1Y -56.6%
5Y -75.6%

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Price history

Novo Nordisk price over the past 5Y

Track Novo Nordisk's standalone price path with macro and asset-specific events enabled by default.

Novo Nordisk price over the past 5Y

NVO
7 events in this period
Show events
Latest close $47.00 Data through 2026-05-12
5Y low $34.78 Window low
5Y high $142.52 Window high

Key takeaways

  • Total Return: NVO returned -29.9% over the 1Y window and +27.9% over the 5Y window ; annualized return over 5Y was +5.0%.
  • Risk-adjusted return: Sharpe was 0.21 and Sortino was 0.29 over 5Y. Sharpe counts total volatility; Sortino focuses on downside volatility.
  • Volatility & drawdown: Annualized volatility was 52.5% over 1Y and 38.2% over 5Y ; max drawdown was -56.6% over 1Y and -75.6% over 5Y .
  • Tail risk (Expected Shortfall): Over 5Y, daily VaR (5%) was -3.2% and Expected Shortfall was -5.8%. VaR is the cutoff; Expected Shortfall is the average move inside the worst 5% of daily returns.
  • Skew & kurtosis: Over 5Y, skew was -1.61 and excess kurtosis was 17.40. Skew shows return asymmetry; excess kurtosis shows how fat the tails were versus a Normal distribution.
  • Risk ratios: Sortino Ratio: 0.29 , Calmar Ratio: 0.07 , Sterling Ratio: 0.03 , Treynor Ratio: 0.12 , Ulcer Index: 32.10% .

Novo Nordisk Drawdown

NVO 1Y Max Drawdown
↓ -56.6%
2025-06-12 to 2026-03-27
NVO 5Y Max Drawdown
↓ -75.6%
2024-06-25 to 2026-03-27

Max drawdown shows the deepest peak-to-trough decline Novo Nordisk suffered in each research window. 1Y: -56.6%; 5Y: -75.6%.

Novo Nordisk is currently -67.0% below its prior peak, with the high-water mark at $142.52. 5Y low is $34.78.

NVO underwater plot (5Y). Zero means at a prior peak; dips show how far below peak the close was on each day. Deepest trough: -75.6% on Mar 27, 2026.
-75.6% 2021-05-13 2026-05-12 0% -76%

5Y drawdown episodes

#1
-75.6% Jun 25, 2024 to Mar 27, 2026
Not yet recovered 686 total days
#2
-21.4% Apr 7, 2022 to Sep 26, 2022
Recovered Nov 28, 2022 235 total days
#3
-20.5% Dec 16, 2021 to Jan 26, 2022
Recovered Apr 6, 2022 111 total days

Novo Nordisk Volatility

NVO 1Y Volatility
52.5%
Annualized daily closes
NVO 5Y Volatility
38.2%
Annualized daily closes

Volatility Novo Nordisk's annualized volatility shows how widely daily closes moved over 1Y and 5Y. Higher values mean a noisier path, not automatically a better or worse investment. 1Y: 52.5%; 5Y: 38.2%.

Benchmark context

Where NVO fits relative to other lenses

Benchmark links are secondary on this page. Use them when you want to place the asset against a specific market, factor, or historical counterpart.

Default benchmark

S&P 500

SPY

Broad equity benchmark

1Y return
↑ +26.9%
NVO minus SPY
↓ -54.2%
Correlation
0.35
1Y
NVO vs SPY average correlation
Moderately linked
0.35
QQQ

Nasdaq 100

Corr 0.29

Growth and tech benchmark

1Y return +37.7%
NVO minus QQQ -65.0%
BTC

Bitcoin

Corr 0.17

Cross-asset crypto benchmark

1Y return -22.0%
NVO minus BTC -5.3%
XAU

Gold

Corr 0.06

Store-of-value benchmark

1Y return +45.1%
NVO minus XAU -72.4%

Risk-adjusted ratios

These ratios compare return against different definitions of risk: total volatility, downside volatility, drawdowns, benchmark beta, and time spent underwater.

Novo Nordisk Sharpe Ratio

NVO 1Y Sharpe ratio
↓ -0.48
Recent window
NVO 5Y Sharpe ratio
↑ 0.21
Deeper research window

NVO Sharpe Ratio (5Y)

Return per total volatility

The dot sits at (Novo Nordisk's annualized volatility, its excess annualized return). The slope from the origin to the dot is the Sharpe ratio — steeper means the asset converted risk into return more efficiently.

Higher is better
Excess return Annualized volatility 0 50% vol 38.2% · excess +8.2%
excess annualized return / total volatility
Formula Sharpe=E[R]−RfσR\displaystyle \mathrm{Sharpe} = \frac{\mathbb{E}[R] - R_f}{\sigma_R}

Sharpe ratio Novo Nordisk's Sharpe ratio measures excess return per unit of total volatility. Higher readings mean the asset converted risk into return more efficiently over the same window. 1Y: -0.48; 5Y: 0.21.

A Sharpe above 1.0 is generally considered good, above 2.0 is excellent. Negative Sharpe means the asset underperformed the risk-free rate. Calculated on each asset's full 365-day lookback of available prices and annualized using the asset calendar (365 for crypto, 252 trading days for equities/ETFs/metals).

Novo Nordisk Sortino Ratio

NVO 1Y Sortino ratio
↓ -0.62
Recent window
NVO 5Y Sortino ratio
↑ 0.29
Deeper research window

NVO Sortino Ratio (5Y)

Return per downside volatility

Novo Nordisk's daily-return distribution over the long window. Days left of the target line are the only ones Sortino penalizes in the denominator — so a distribution with a fat left tail produces a smaller Sortino even at the same mean return.

Higher is better
Frequency (days) Daily return (%) target -23.4% +18.8% 319 0
excess annualized return / downside volatility
Formula Sortino=E[R]−Rfσdown\displaystyle \mathrm{Sortino} = \frac{\mathbb{E}[R] - R_f}{\sigma_{\mathrm{down}}}

Sortino ratio Novo Nordisk's Sortino ratio isolates downside volatility instead of all volatility. It is the cleaner lens when you care more about bad downside moves than upside noise. 1Y: -0.62; 5Y: 0.29.

A higher Sortino is better. It's useful when upside volatility is common (crypto is the obvious example). Calculated on each asset's full 365-day lookback of available prices, using the daily risk-free rate as the target return, and annualized using the asset calendar (365 for crypto, 252 trading days for equities/ETFs/metals).

Novo Nordisk Calmar Ratio

NVO 1Y Calmar ratio
↓ -0.53
Recent window
NVO 5Y Calmar ratio
↑ 0.07
Deeper research window

NVO Calmar Ratio (5Y)

CAGR per worst drawdown

Novo Nordisk's CAGR bar sits above zero, the max drawdown bar sits below. Calmar is the ratio of those two magnitudes — a shallow drawdown bar with a tall CAGR bar produces a strong Calmar.

Higher is better
0% NVO 5Y +5.0% -75.6%
CAGR / max drawdown
Formula Calmar=CAGR∣MaxDD∣\displaystyle \mathrm{Calmar} = \frac{\mathrm{CAGR}}{|\mathrm{MaxDD}|}

Calmar ratio Novo Nordisk's Calmar ratio measures return per unit of max drawdown. It is useful when the path of losses matters as much as the final return. 1Y: -0.53; 5Y: 0.07.

Calmar is computed on each asset's full 365-day lookback and uses the max drawdown over that same window.

Novo Nordisk Sterling Ratio

NVO 1Y Sterling ratio
↓ -0.60
Recent window
NVO 5Y Sterling ratio
↑ 0.03
Deeper research window

NVO Sterling Ratio (5Y)

Return per average drawdown

The underwater curve shows Novo Nordisk's drawdowns over the long window. Sterling averages every event deeper than the 10% threshold instead of taking only the worst one — so an asset with many mid-size drawdowns scores worse here than on Calmar.

Higher is better
0% -20% -40% -60% -79% 10% drawdown threshold
excess CAGR / average deep drawdown
Formula Sterling=CAGR−RfD‾>10%\displaystyle \mathrm{Sterling} = \frac{\mathrm{CAGR} - R_f}{\overline{D}_{>10\%}}

Sterling ratio Novo Nordisk's Sterling ratio compares return against deep drawdown pressure. It gives a harsher read on assets that compound well but suffer ugly declines along the way. 1Y: -0.60; 5Y: 0.03.

Sterling uses average drawdown events deeper than 10% and subtracts the risk-free rate to report excess return.

Novo Nordisk Ulcer Index

NVO 1Y Ulcer Index
35.75
Recent window
NVO 5Y Ulcer Index
32.10
Deeper research window

NVO Ulcer Index (5Y)

Drawdown pain

The underwater curve shows how deep and how long Novo Nordisk's drawdowns were. Ulcer is the root-mean-square of that curve — both depth and persistence count, so lower is better.

Lower is better
0% -20% -40% -60% -79%
root-mean-square drawdown
Formula UI=E[Dt2]\displaystyle \mathrm{UI} = \sqrt{\mathbb{E}[D_t^2]}

Ulcer Index Novo Nordisk's Ulcer Index measures both the depth and persistence of drawdowns. Lower is better because it means fewer and shallower underwater periods. 1Y: 35.75; 5Y: 32.10.

Ulcer Index is computed from each asset's drawdown series over the full lookback window.

Novo Nordisk Treynor Ratio

NVO 1Y Treynor
↓ -0.17
Beta 1.53 vs SPY
NVO 5Y Treynor
↑ 0.12
Beta 0.69 vs SPY

NVO Treynor Ratio (5Y)

Excess return per beta vs SPY

The line's slope is Novo Nordisk's beta to SPY — steeper means more market-sensitive. Treynor divides excess return by that slope, so an asset can look efficient with a shallow beta and a small return, or inefficient with a steep beta and a big return.

Higher is better
Asset return Market return 0 0 β 0.69
excess return / market beta
Formula Treynor=E[R]−Rfβ\displaystyle \mathrm{Treynor} = \frac{\mathbb{E}[R] - R_f}{\beta}

Treynor ratio measures excess return per unit of market beta versus SPY. A high Treynor means the asset compensated its market exposure well over this window. A low or negative Treynor means the asset's market risk wasn't rewarded.

Treynor uses beta vs the S&P 500 (SPY) on shared dates and the average 3-month Treasury rate as the risk-free rate.

Novo Nordisk Tail Risk

Tail-risk stats use daily return distributions rather than simple end-point returns. They show how ugly the left tail has been, how severe the worst 5% of days were, and whether returns were skewed toward outsized upside or downside shocks.

The histogram shows the shape of Novo Nordisk's daily log returns over the 5Y window. Bars left of the 5% VaR marker are the worst 5% of days; the ES marker is the average loss inside that tail. Skew and excess kurtosis describe whether the distribution is symmetric around zero and whether extreme days are more common than a Normal distribution predicts.

NVO daily return distribution (5Y)

NVO daily return distribution (5Y)

Log-return histogram with Value-at-Risk and Expected Shortfall markers at the 5% left tail.

Days
NVO 5Y VaR 5% ES 5% -28.3% 0% +28.3% Daily log return
worst-5% daily return and the average loss inside it
Formula VaR5%=Q0.05(R),ES5%=E[R∣R≤VaR5%]\displaystyle \mathrm{VaR}_{5\%} = Q_{0.05}(R),\quad \mathrm{ES}_{5\%} = \mathbb{E}[R \mid R \le \mathrm{VaR}_{5\%}]
Metric 1Y5Y
VaR (5%) -4.2% Historical daily threshold -3.2% Historical daily threshold
Expected shortfall (5%) -9.0% Beyond the VaR threshold -5.8% Beyond the VaR threshold
Skew -2.14 -1.61
Excess kurtosis 13.85 17.40

Less negative daily VaR and Expected Shortfall values mean the left tail was less violent. Skew and excess kurtosis help distinguish between steady compounding and a path dominated by occasional extreme moves.

Full stats table

Every window-consistent research metric

Each column keeps the same horizon across returns, ratios, drawdowns, and tail-risk metrics.

Metric
1Y Recent window
5Y Deeper research window
Total return
-29.9%
+27.9%
Annualized return
-29.9%
+5.0%
Volatility
52.5% Annualized daily closes
38.2% Annualized daily closes
Sharpe ratio
-0.48
0.21
Sortino ratio
-0.62
0.29
Calmar ratio
-0.53
0.07
Sterling ratio
-0.60
0.03
Ulcer Index
35.75
32.10
Max drawdown
-56.6% 2025-06-12 to 2026-03-27
-75.6% 2024-06-25 to 2026-03-27
VaR (5%)
-4.2% Historical daily threshold
-3.2% Historical daily threshold
Expected shortfall (5%)
-9.0% Beyond the VaR threshold
-5.8% Beyond the VaR threshold
Skew
-2.14
-1.61
Excess kurtosis
13.85
17.40

What viewers usually ask next

What is Novo Nordisk's 5Y CAGR?

Novo Nordisk's 5y cagr is +5.0% on Gale using the past 5 years.

What is Novo Nordisk's 1-year volatility?

Annualized volatility is 52.5% over the past year.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year Sharpe ratio?

Novo Nordisk's Sharpe ratio is 0.21 using the past 5 years.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year Sortino ratio?

Novo Nordisk's Sortino ratio is 0.29 using the past 5 years.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year Calmar ratio?

Novo Nordisk's Calmar ratio is 0.07 using the past 5 years.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year Sterling ratio?

Novo Nordisk's Sterling ratio is 0.03 using the past 5 years.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year Ulcer Index?

Novo Nordisk's Ulcer Index is 32.10 using the past 5 years. Lower is better because it means shallower and less persistent drawdowns.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year max drawdown?

Max drawdown is -75.6% over the past 5 years from 2024-06-25 to 2026-03-27.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year daily Value at Risk?

Using historical daily returns, Gale estimates a 5% Value at Risk of -3.18% over the past 5 years.

What is Novo Nordisk's 5-year Expected Shortfall?

Expected Shortfall is -5.82% over the past 5 years, which captures the average outcome inside the worst 5% of daily returns.

Is Novo Nordisk still below its all-time high?

Current drawdown is -67.0% versus the all-time high of $142.52 reached on 2024-06-25.

Which benchmark should viewers open first for Novo Nordisk?

S&P 500 is the default benchmark lens on Gale because it gives the cleanest context for Novo Nordisk's recent behavior.