NovoCure Raises 2026 Revenue Guidance to $743 Million as Active Patients Grow

Key Facts

NovoCure reported net revenue of $193.4 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, up 16% from the same period in 2025, and raised its full-year revenue and adjusted earnings outlook. The company said revenue growth was driven mainly by a 19% increase in active patients globally. The number of active patients receiving tumor treating fields therapy was 5,260 at the end of September, compared with 4,416 a year earlier. Chief Executive Frank Leonard said strong performance reflected continued growth in the Optune Gio business and an expanding product portfolio in new markets. He added that active patients reached a record level.

The company raised its 2026 revenue guidance range to $736–743 million, compared with its previous range of $710–725 million. It also raised its outlook for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $24–34 million, from zero to $15 million previously. The revision puts projected annual revenue above the previous estimate and moves the adjusted earnings range into positive territory. The company did not specify in its statement that revenue or loss per share exceeded analyst expectations. The guidance increase therefore is not based on a disclosed comparison with market estimates, but on the company’s new ranges and how they compare with its previous ranges.

Gross margin improved to 77% in the third quarter, compared with 73% in the same period a year earlier. NovoCure attributed the improvement to higher revenue and lower revenue costs per active patient. Factors cited by the company included improved array utilization and manufacturing efficiency. The wider margin means that additional revenue was accompanied by a lower cost per active patient, according to the company’s explanation. This came alongside growth in the patient base, which the company said was the main driver of the revenue increase.

The United States led regional revenue with a contribution of $111.9 million during the quarter, followed by Germany at $24.9 million, France at $18.7 million and Japan at $14.5 million. These figures show that the U.S. market was the largest source of recorded revenue in the period, with European and Japanese markets next. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $463.5 million on September 30, 2026. Meanwhile, research and development and clinical study expenses rose 8% year over year to $58.1 million. The company said most of the increase in those expenses was related to costs for the KEYNOTE D58 trial.

In a business update, NovoCure said Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Optune Pax in October 2026 for adults with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer, when used with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel. The decision adds a new market for the product, as part of what Leonard described as an expanding product portfolio and launches in new markets. The company is also pursuing a U.S. premarket approval application for tumor treating fields therapy for brain metastases resulting from non-small cell lung cancer. It said it expects a decision from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during the fourth quarter of 2026. It also targeted completing enrollment in the phase 3 KEYNOTE D58 trial during the same quarter.

For the fourth quarter, management guided to revenue of between $185 million and $192 million, a range below third-quarter revenue of $193.4 million. The company attributed the expected decline to the fading of one-time benefits related to an increase in claim approvals. These quarterly projections put the year-end revenue trajectory in a different context from the annual increase that prompted the company to raise its 2026 range. The two milestones the company identified for the fourth quarter remain an FDA decision on the U.S. application and completion of enrollment in the KEYNOTE D58 trial. Regulatory approvals and clinical enrollment are part of its announced schedule for the coming period.