Johnson & Johnson Crushes Expectations With Strong Q1

By Chris Lange Published Apr 14, 10:38AM EDT

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Johnson & Johnson Crushes Expectations With Strong Q1 — © Chris Hondros / Getty Images

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ | JNJ Price Prediction) released its most recent quarterly results before the markets opened on Tuesday. For the first quarter, the pharmaceutical giant said that it had $2.30 in earnings per share (EPS) and $20.69 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that called for $1.99 in EPS and revenue $19.48 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $2.10 on $20.02 billion in revenue.

Consumer Health sales increased 9.2% on an adjusted operational basis to $3.63 billion. This was driven primarily by over-the-counter products, including Tylenol and Motrin analgesics; upper respiratory products, including Zyrtec; digestive health products: and Zarbee’s Naturals.

Pharmaceutical sales increased 10.2% to $11.13 billion. This increase was driven by Stelara (ustekinumab), a biologic for the treatment of a number of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases; Darzalex (daratumumab), for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Imbruvica (ibrutinib), an oral, once-daily therapy approved for use in treating certain B-cell malignancies, a type of blood or lymph node cancer; among other drugs.

Medical Devices worldwide operational sales, excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures, declined by 4.8%, driven by the estimated net negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated deferral of medical procedures to its Surgery, Orthopaedics, Interventional Solutions and Vision businesses.

Looking ahead to the 2020 full year, Johnson & Johnson expects to see EPS in the range of $7.65 to $8.05 and adjusted operational sales between $79.2 billion and $82.2 billion. Consensus estimates are calling for $8.08 in EPS and $79.63 billion in revenue for the year.

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Alex Gorsky, board chair and chief executive, commented:

With Johnson & Johnson’s century-plus history of leading in times of great challenge, we are mobilizing our resources across the Company in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson & Johnson is built for times like this, and we are leveraging our scientific expertise, operational scale and financial strength in the effort to advance the work on our lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate. We are committed to beginning production at risk imminently and bringing an affordable and accessible vaccine to the public on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.

Separately, the board of directors declared a 6.3% increase in the quarterly dividend rate, from $0.95 per share to $1.01 per share. At the new rate, the indicated dividend on an annual basis is $4.04 per share, compared to the previous rate of $3.80 per share.

Johnson & Johnson stock traded up over 4% on Tuesday, at $146.20 in a 52-week range of $109.16 to $154.50. The consensus price target is $155.41.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.