Third-quarter sales and earnings for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) topped the consensus forecast, prompting the healthcare giant to raise its outlook for the rest of the year.
New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J posted profits of $3.93 billion, or $1.44 per share, on sales of $20.35 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, for a bottom-line gain of 4.5% on sales growth of 3.6% compared with Q3 2017.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $2.05, 2¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts expected sales of $20.05 billion.
“We are pleased with our strong third-quarter performance, which reflects continued above-market growth in our pharmaceutical business, accelerating sales momentum in our consumer business and consistent progress in our medical devices business,” chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky said in prepared remarks. “I’m confident that with our collaborative and inspired J&J colleagues around the world, unique broad-based business model and strategic investments in innovation, we are well positioned for success today and into the future.”
J&J said it now expects to post adjusted EPS of $8.13 to $8.18, up from $8.07 to $8.17 previously, on sales of $81.0 billion to $81.4 billion, compared with prior guidance of $80.5 billion to $81.3 billion.
JNJ shares were down a hair at $133.90 apiece today in pre-market trading.
Flat sales for medical device biz
Sales for J&J’s second-largest business, medical devices, were off -0.2% to $6.59 billion during the quarter, with international sales sliding -0.6% to $3.39 billion and domestic sales rising 0.3% to $3.20 billion.
The interventional solutions business paced the division with 18.1% growth to sales of $653 million. Vision sales were $1.13 billion, up 3.8%, followed by surgical revenues, which rose 1.3% to $2.38 billion.
Diabetes sales continued to show J&J’s wind-down of most of that business, sliding -22.2% to $315 million, and the orthopedics business was off by -4.2% at $2.11 billion compared with the same period last year.