Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares rose today after the healthcare conglomerate reported Wall-Street-beating 3rd-quarter results, buoyed by its pharmaceuticals division.
New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J posted profits of $3.0 billion, or $1.04 per share, on sales of $17.58 billion for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for bottom-line growth of 13.4% on sales growth of 3.1% compared with Q3 2012.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share reached $1.36, beating expectations on The Street by 4¢. That, and a boost for JNJ’s full-year earnings outlook, boosted share prices today to $90.37 apiece as of about 11:30 a.m., up 0.6%.
"Our 3rd-quarter results reflect the solid, demonstrable results in achieving our near-term priorities while also advancing our longer term strategic growth drivers," chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky said in prepared remarks. "Our key products and successful new product launches delivered strong growth. We continue to progress our pipelines with a number of regulatory approvals, the submission of new drug applications, and execution of strategic collaborations. Our investments further strengthen our ability to deliver sustainable growth and bring meaningful innovations to patients and consumers."
Johnson & Johnson raised its adjusted earnings forecast for 2013 to $5.44-$5.49 per share, up from $5.40-$5.47. Analysts on The Street are looking for full-year adjusted EPS of $5.46.
Sales for the company’s medical device and diagnostics segment slipped 2% during the quarter to $6.93 billion, with U.S. sales down 4.2% to $3.15 billion and international sales down 0.1% to $3.78 billion. Leerink Swann analyst Danielle Antalffy said the below-consensus results for the device segment belies an uptick for J&J’s specialty surgical division. Sales for that business rose 4.9% to $626.0 million during the quarter.
"Overall, JNJ continues to ride the back of strong Pharma performance as recent product launches continue to exceed expectations," Antalffy wrote this morning in a note to investors. "And while below-consensus MD&D sales could perpetuate concerns that broader MedTech utilization trends remain weak, strong Surgical sales could actually signal potentially positive volume trends overall. While JNJ suffers several ‘weak’ spots – primarily in MD&D – the company should continue to benefit from positive tailwinds within Pharma and the ongoing Consumer turnaround, pushing shares higher still."
