Quarterly earnings at Johnson & Johnson came in above analyst forecasts on Tuesday, with Tremfya — its treatment for immune-related conditions — posting robust demand, though armed conflict in the Middle East was among the geopolitical pressures that weighed on the company's medical devices unit.
Third-quarter figures from the company landed at $25.4 billion in revenue, nudging past the $25.28 billion consensus that analysts had projected, per LSEG data. On a per-share basis, the company's adjusted profit of $2.59 came in ahead of the $2.54 figure analysts on Wall Street had pencilled in.
Drug revenues climbed to $16.76 billion over the quarter, reflecting a 7.7% gain against the prior period. Revenue from the medical technology division reached $8.6 billion, reflecting a 2.5% uptick across the unit as a whole. Revenue from the division held essentially level in markets beyond the United States.
J&J's chief financial officer, Joe Wolk, told reporters that ongoing conflict in the Middle East, belt-tightening across European markets, and pricing pressures in China were all dragging on the company's international performance, and that those headwinds had grown somewhat more pronounced. Wolk noted that while elevated fuel costs tied to the regional conflict had not yet fed through into the company's own cost base, revenues across Middle Eastern markets had taken a hit, adding that countries such as Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia remained committed to building out advanced healthcare infrastructure.
Wolk noted that those countries take pride in their healthcare systems, describing them as high-quality, yet their budgets have shifted toward defence spending. That trend was reflected in the Abiomed division, where revenue from Impella heart pumps remained under pressure after a UK study published earlier in the year raised questions about the devices' use in certain high-risk coronary procedures.
Tremfya brought in $2.4 billion, a 68% jump that cleared analyst projections of roughly $2.19 billion, while Stelara — now contending with generic alternatives — posted $716 million, a 54% drop from prior levels yet one that still outpaced Wall Street's forecast of $591 million. Sales of Tremfya have taken on a growing share of the revenue gap left by Stelara's decline, aided by a string of newly granted approvals covering inflammatory bowel conditions.
Revenue from Darzalex, a treatment for blood cancer, climbed roughly 16% to reach $4.24 billion — a figure that fell below the $4.4 billion analysts had projected.
Guidance on the annual revenue outlook was revised upward, with the midpoint of the projected full-year reported sales figure nudging from roughly $101.1 billion to approximately $101.2 billion. The adjusted earnings outlook was also revised upward, with the forecast range now centred on $11.10 per share, a modest climb from the prior midpoint of $11.04.
Trading in Johnson & Johnson stock wrapped up Monday with shares settling at $263.73. A 27% advance over the calendar year placed the shares ahead of both the wider market and the majority of healthcare sector counterparts.
