Johnson & Johnson Earnings Just Par for the Course

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported its first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday. The company said that it had $2.06 in earnings per share (EPS) on $20.01 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for EPS of $2.00 on $19.4 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.83 in EPS on revenue of $17.77 billion.

During the quarter, worldwide consumer sales totaled $3.4 billion, which represented an increase of 5.3% over the prior year, consisting of an operational increase of 1.3% and a positive impact from currency of 4.0%. Domestic sales increased 1.6%, and international sales increased 8.2%, which reflected an operational increase of 1.2% and a positive currency impact of 7.0%.

Worldwide pharmaceutical sales increased 19.4% year over year to $9.8 billion, with an operational increase of 15.1% and a positive impact from currency of 4.3%. Domestic sales increased 9.9%. International sales increased 33.1%, which reflected an operational increase of 22.5% and a positive currency impact of 10.6%.

Worldwide medical devices sales increased 7.5% to $6.8 billion, consisting of an operational increase of 3.2% and a positive currency impact of 4.3%. Domestic sales increased 2.2%, while international sales increased 12.7%, which reflected an operational increase of 4.2% and a positive currency impact of 8.5%.

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In terms of guidance, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $8.00 to $8.20 and revenues between $81.0 billion and $81.8 billion for the full year. The consensus estimates are $8.10 in EPS on $81.13 billion in revenue.

Alex Gorsky, board chair and chief executive, commented:

We are pleased with the strong and consistent performance delivered by our colleagues around the world, demonstrated by our sales and EPS growth in the first quarter. Our Pharmaceutical business continues to deliver robust growth and we are pleased with the improvement in our Consumer business. In our Medical Devices businesses, we have areas of leadership and continue to make investments and portfolio choices to improve performance.

The stock was last seen down fractionally at $130.75 a share, with a consensus analyst price target of $149.48 and a 52-week range of $120.95 to $148.32.

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