2023-07-20 11:17:29 ET
Johnson & Johnson ( NYSE: JNJ ) opened 5.0% up on Thursday after reporting market-beating results for its fiscal second quarter.
J&J stock up on strong outlook
Investors are cheering the raised guidance as well. J&J now forecasts its adjusted per-share earnings to come in between $10.70 and $10.80 this year.
The healthcare behemoth also lifted its outlook for operational sales to just over $100 billion. On CNBC’s “ Squawk Box ”, CFO Joseph Wolk said today:
Things look very good. We had a lot of good clinical and regulatory data that will solidify next few years in the second half of this decade. So, we’re in a very strong position as we see the H2.
Experts had forecast $10.65 a share of adjusted earnings for the full year. At writing, J&J stock is down 8.0% versus its year-to-date high.
J&J Q2 earnings snapshot
- Net income printed at $5.14 billion versus the year-ago $4.81 billion
- Per-share earnings also climbed materially from $1.80 to $1.96
- Adjusted EPS came in at $2.80 as per the earnings press release
- Sales jumped 6.3% on a year-over-year basis to $25.53 billion
- FactSet consensus was $2.62 a share on $24.63 billion in revenue
Johnson & Johnson said its MedTech business noted a 14.7% annualised growth in the second quarter. CFO Wolk added:
Guide raise is really about 28 cents when you consider 18 cents for two discrete strategic items, one the noncontrolling interest in Kenvue and then we made an investment to secure our future for B cell malignancies.
Kenvue topped Street estimates
Als on Thursday, Kenvue – its recently separated consumer health division also reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter since the IPO in May. According to CFO Wolk:
We did have the successful IPO back in May. This morning, we announced our intention in terms of the next step with that separation.
Johnson & Johnson now plans on splitting off shares of Kenvue via an exchange offer.
Earlier this month, Jim Cramer recommended that investors be cautious when investing in J&J stock. In contrast, Wall Street currently has a consensus “overweight” rating on it.
Talc worries remain ongoing
The news arrives just a day after a jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $18.8 million to a young man who allegedly developed cancer because of its talc products.
Earlier this year, the multinational announced an $8.9 billion agreement to settle thousands of lawsuits related to its talc products even though it continues to refuse that its products are injurious for health.
Also this week, Johnson & Johnson joined peers including Merck and sued the Biden Administration for letting Medicare have the power to dictate drug prices as Invezz reported here.
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