J&J profit beats Wall Street estimates

Johnson & Johnson’s first-quarter profit beat estimates as the health giant’s drug sales came in higher than Wall Street analysts expected. 

Adjusted quarterly profit was US$2.71 a share, J&J said on Tuesday (Apr 16) in a statement, compared with analysts’ average estimate of US$2.65. Sales of medicines were US$13.6 billion, slightly outpacing the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, while overall revenue matched Wall Street projections. 

J&J split off its consumer-health unit that makes Tylenol and Listerine last year in order to focus on higher-margin sales of drugs and medical devices. The company still faces declining revenues from its top-selling psoriasis drug Stelara next year, and is looking to products like prostate-cancer therapy Erleada and Tremfya for psoriasis to fill the gap.  

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J has also been investing in medical devices, agreeing earlier this month to buy Shockwave Medical for US$13.1 billion. J&J also closed the purchase of Abiomed, a maker of heart devices, at the end of 2022 for US$16.6 billion.

The company also slightly narrowed its adjusted profit guidance for the year to a range of US$10.57 to US$10.72 a share, from the earlier forecast of US$10.55 to US$10.75 a share. BLOOMBERG