The medical device business at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), the world’s second-largest medtech operation, today posted the highest second-quarter sales growth of its three major divisions, outpacing its pharmaceutical and consumer products segments.
The New Brunswick, N.J.-based healthcare titan said its medtech biz posted sales of $6.73 billion for the three months ended June 30, up 4.9% over the same period last year.
Overall profits were $3.83 billion, or $1.40 per share, on sales of $18.84 billion, amounting to a -4.3% bottom-line slide on sales growth of 1.9%. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were $1.83, 3¢ ahead of the consensus forecast on Wall Street. Analysts on The Street were looking for sales of $18.95 billion.
“Our second-quarter results reflect strong adjusted earnings growth and we are optimistic that the investments we are making will accelerate our sales growth in the second half of this year. Our pharmaceutical pipeline continued its strong momentum with the approval of Tremfya as well as the submission and approval of several key line extensions,” chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky said in prepared remarks. “The Actelion acquisition establishes a new therapeutic area as well as another engine for growth and we are pleased to welcome the Actelion colleagues to the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. Together with all of our businesses, we will continue to transform the lives of patients around the world.”
Johnson & Johnson raised its outlook for the rest of the year, saying it now expects to post full-year adjusted EPS of $7.12 to $7.22, compared with prior guidance of $7.00 to $7.15, on sales of $75.8 billion to $76.1 billion (up from $75.4 billion to $76.1 billion previously).*
JNJ shares ticked up 1.1% to $133.50 apiece today in pre-market trading.
* This article originally misreported the change in J&J’s guidance. ↩