Novartis rises after Q2 beat, FY guidance raise

** Shares in Novartis NOVN rise 1.9% in Julius Baer premarket trade after the Swiss drugmaker bumped up its full-year earnings outlook as it reported a beat to analysts expectations for Q2 results

** "Impressive 2Q25 results beating consensus and our estimates," Vontobel analyst writes in a note to clients

** He highlights that Q2 core operating profit, which rose 20% yoy to $5.9 billion, beat consensus and Vontobel's expectations by 2% and 3%, with sales also landing above estimates

** He also pointed to Novartis' FY25 guidance raise

** "We did not expect Novartis to raise its FY guidance ahead of the generic entry to US Entresto which continues to be expected per mid-year," he says

** Novartis said in a separate statement that Chief Financial Officer Harry Kirsch will retire in March, 2026 and be replaced by Mukul Mehta, who currently heads up the business planning and analysis, digital finance and tax division

** Analysts at J.P. Morgan expect the "solid quarter" to be well received by investors

** They anticipate that shares will outperform by 1% as Harry Kirsch's retirement may moderate some of the positivity around the results

** Shares in Novartis gained over 7% so far this year, after rising 4.5% in 2024