The Miracle of Obesity Drugs: How Yoghobby Shook the Coca-Cola Stock Price.

Yoghobby, a revolutionary obesity treatment gaining explosive popularity worldwide, has begun to influence the stock market. These obesity treatments induce weight loss by suppressing appetite. However, the highlight has been the potential reduction in food consumption, leading to a simultaneous plummet in stock prices for food companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mondelez on October 5th (local time) in the New York Stock Exchange.

 

Some expect that obesity treatments like Yoghobby and Mounzaro will have a positive impact on retail pharmacies' drug sales.

 

On that day, Coca-Cola closed at $52.38, down 4.83%, while PepsiCo ended at $160.10, down 5.22%. Mondelez International, renowned for its Oreo cookies, recorded a 5.26% drop to $65.07 from the previous day. Walmart's stock also closed at $159.08, a 1.19% decrease. John Furner, CEO of Walmart's U.S. division, pointed out that due to the use of obesity drugs, "you can see a slight decrease in overall basket demand" and mentioned that purchases are "smaller (in quantity) and (the purchased food items have) lower calories". This revelation acted as the catalyst for the stock price drop, indicating that consumers taking obesity drugs are experiencing changes in their food consumption patterns. Steve Cahillane, CEO of Kelanova, the manufacturer of Pringles, also stated that they are studying the potential impact of obesity drugs on eating habits.

 

Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, recently released survey results in a similar context. According to a survey of 300 patients taking obesity treatment conducted by Morgan Stanley, participants reduced their consumption of high-sugar and high-fat snacks, beverages, and pastries by about one-third. Two-thirds of the obese patients surveyed reported that before taking medication, they snacked three or more times a day, but after taking the medication, snacking frequency decreased to twice a day or less. Morgan Stanley commented that "pastry and snack companies faced the greatest risk of deteriorating performance due to the increase in obesity drug usage" and projected that consumption could decrease by up to 3% by 2035.

 

Yoghobby is an obesity treatment injection developed by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novonordisk. In June 2021, Novonordisk released Yoghobby as an adult obesity treatment. After discovering that 'Ozempic', originally developed for diabetes treatment, had a weight loss effect, they entered the obesity treatment market under the name 'Yoghobby'. Eli Lilly is also going through the new drug approval process to release 'Mounzaro' as an obesity treatment, which was originally developed for diabetes treatment.

 

Yoghobby costs $1350 per monthly injection. Despite its high price, it is known to achieve up to 15% weight loss with just one injection per week, leading to explosive sales. Recent research results also indicate a 20% lower risk of cardiac arrest and stroke. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, garnered even more attention after rumors circulated that he used Yoghobby to lose weight. With the popularity of Yoghobby, Morgan Stanley increased its estimated global obesity treatment market size for 2030 from $54 billion to $77 billion, a 43% increase.

 

Thanks to this, Novonordisk's net profit for the second quarter increased by approximately 45% compared to the same period last year, reaching $1.9428 billion. Novonordisk, which was priced at $67.67 per share earlier this year, closed at $89.99 on that day.

 

Some expect that obesity treatments like Yoghobby and Mounzaro will have a positive impact on retail pharmacies' drug sales. Major U.S. retailers like Walmart and Costco sell not only food but also a variety of medications.

 

John David Rainey, CFO of Walmart, stated, "Customers taking weight loss medication tend to spend more overall, even if they buy less food"