Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) Halal?

PASS

Novo Nordisk A/S · NYSE: NVO · Healthcare

The short answer

Yes - Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) passes this Shariah stock screen on all three gates. The business is prescription pharmaceuticals - Diabetes and Obesity care (about 94% of revenue: Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, insulins) and Rare disease (about 6%) - with no haram segments disclosed in its FY2025 filings (20-F filed February 4, 2026, fiscal year ended December 31, 2025). Interest-bearing debt is DKK 130,958 million (borrowings, excluding lease liabilities of DKK 8,572 million) - about 12.0% of the ~$171B market cap (October 2, 2026), below the ~33% ceiling. Interest income of DKK 1,269 million is about 0.41% of revenue (DKK 309,064 million), below the 5% ceiling. Note: Zoya rates NVO Shariah-compliant and Musaffa classifies it halal (both October 2026); no ShariaPortfolio rating was found.

Gate 1 — Business activity: PASS

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) is a Danish pharmaceutical company - its ADRs trade on the NYSE while the primary listing is Nasdaq Copenhagen (Novo-B). It reports two segments: Diabetes and Obesity care (about 94% of revenue - Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, insulins and other GLP-1 medicines) and Rare disease (about 6% - haemophilia, growth disorders, hormone replacement), sold in roughly 170 countries; FY2025 sales were DKK 309,064 million. Haram flags checked (factual, from the filings): the FY2025 Form 20-F and financial reports disclose no alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, pork, or interest-based lending businesses. Gate 1 passes. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: PASS

Per Novo Nordisk's own FY2025 net-debt reconciliation (Company Announcement No 4/2026, year ended December 31, 2025), interest-bearing debt is borrowings, non-current DKK 118,941 million plus borrowings, current DKK 12,017 million - DKK 130,958 million (~$20.5B). Lease liabilities (DKK 8,572 million) are reported and added back separately, so they are excluded from this figure. Against a market cap of about $171B (October 2, 2026), debt / market cap is about 12.0%, below the ~33% ceiling. Cash at bank DKK 26,464 million plus marketable securities DKK 498 million are about 2.5% of market cap. Gate 2 passes. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: PASS

Novo Nordisk's Annual Report 2025 discloses interest income of DKK 1,269 million as a separately reported financial-items line (per Zoya's filing reading). Against revenue of DKK 309,064 million, that is about 0.41% of revenue, well below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Reported financial items (net) for FY2025 were a gain of DKK 2,882 million - driven by currency hedging gains, partly offset by interest expenses on the debt that funded the Catalent transaction. Gate 3 passes on the disclosed interest-income line. Facts only.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does Novo Nordisk do?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) is a Danish pharmaceutical company whose ADRs trade on the NYSE (its primary listing is Nasdaq Copenhagen, 'Novo-B'). It sells prescription medicines in roughly 170 countries, built around two segments: Diabetes and Obesity care (about 94% of revenue - Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, insulins) and Rare disease (about 6% - haemophilia, growth disorders). FY2025 sales were DKK 309,064 million. The filings describe no alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, pork, or interest-based lending businesses.

Why does Novo Nordisk pass this Shariah stock screen?

Novo Nordisk passes all three gates from its own FY2025 reporting. Gate 1: the business is prescription pharmaceuticals (diabetes, obesity, rare disease) - no haram segments are disclosed. Gate 2: interest-bearing debt (borrowings, excluding lease liabilities) is DKK 130,958 million (~$20.5B), about 12.0% of the ~$171B market cap (October 2, 2026), below the ~33% ceiling. Gate 3: interest income of DKK 1,269 million is about 0.41% of DKK 309,064 million revenue, below the 5% ceiling. Note: Zoya rates NVO Shariah-compliant and Musaffa classifies it halal (both October 2026). This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling - consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is Novo Nordisk's interest-bearing debt ratio?

Per Novo Nordisk's own FY2025 net-debt reconciliation (Company Announcement No 4/2026, financial report for the year ended December 31, 2025), total interest-bearing debt is borrowings, non-current DKK 118,941 million plus borrowings, current DKK 12,017 million - DKK 130,958 million in total, about $20.5B. Lease liabilities (DKK 8,572 million) are reported and added back separately, so they are not in this figure. Against a market cap of about $171B (October 2, 2026), debt / market cap is about 12.0% - below the ~33% ceiling. Cash at bank of DKK 26,464 million plus marketable securities of DKK 498 million (~$4.3B combined) are about 2.5% of market cap. Gate 2 passes.

What is Novo Nordisk's non-compliant income ratio?

Novo Nordisk's Annual Report 2025 (per Zoya's reading of the filing) discloses interest income of DKK 1,269 million as a separate financial-items line, against revenue of DKK 309,064 million - about 0.41% of revenue, well below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Reported financial items (net) for FY2025 were a gain of DKK 2,882 million (driven by currency hedging gains, partly offset by interest expenses on the debt that funded the Catalent transaction). Gate 3 passes on the disclosed interest-income line.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover Novo Nordisk?

Zoya covers NVO and rates it Shariah-compliant (zoya.finance/stocks/nvo), reporting FY2025 revenue of kr309,064,000,000 and interest income of kr1,269,000,000 (0.41%) from the annual report. Musaffa covers NVO and classifies it as halal as of October 2026 (AAOIFI methodology; musaffa.com/stock/NVO/). No ShariaPortfolio screening page or rating for NVO was found - reported as absent, not invented. This page applies the screen directly from Novo Nordisk's own filings and reports these positions honestly.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).