LAST QUARTER: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported Q3 EPS of $1.49, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45.
Advertisement
Overall, these quick-launching meds helped bring 2015 pharma sales to $31.4 billion, an operational increase of 4.2%, J&J said.
What’s ahead for Johnson & Johnson?CEO Alex Gorsky characterized 2015 as providing “strong underlying growth” despite currency headwinds. The executives said they aren’t expecting so-called biosimilar competition for the rheumatoid-arthritis agent in the USA this year, because the drug’s patent expires in September 2018 and the company will defend it. When the biosimilar competition comes, J&J executives said they expect most Remicade patients will stay on the drug, because they are satisfied with the results.
Full-year profits were $19.20 billion, or $5.48 per share, on sales of $70.07 billion, for a -6.6% profit slide on a -5.7% sales decline.
The world’s biggest maker of health care products said net income was $3.2 billion, or $1.15 per share. The company has registered positive earnings surprises in four of the last four quarters with an average beat of 3.8%. Excluding the charge for medical devices and other items, J&J’s had earnings of $US1.44 in the latest fourth quarter, above the average analyst estimate of $US1.42. On an operational basis, adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 12.4%.
Operational sales results increased 4.4% and the negative impact of currency was 6.8%. Stratford Consulting LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sales in the domestic market increased 12.7% to $4.9 billion, whereas worldwide sales declined 13.4% to $3.2 billion.
J&J last week said it would cut about 3,000 jobs within the struggling unit over the next two years to generate annual cost savings of up to $1 billion and to focus on priority areas like artificial knees and devices for trauma surgery. Strong growth in new products include INVOKANA/INVOKAMET (canagliflozin), for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes; IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib), an oral, once-daily therapy approved for use in treating certain B-cell malignancies, or blood cancers; XARELTO (rivaroxaban), an oral anticoagulant; and ZYTIGA (abiraterone acetate), an oral, once-daily medication for use in combination with prednisone for the treatment of metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer. New product sales growth was negatively impacted by lower sales of OLYSIO/SOVRIAD (simeprevir) due to competitive entrants.
Johnson & Johnson is a holding company.
The company is also sitting on a fairly hefty cash pile – albeit with a large proportion overseas – and according to Gorsky is looking at opportunities across all three of its business sectors: pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer health.
Advertisement
In the fourth quarter, J&J’s medical device sales fell 3.3 per cent to $US6.43 billion, representing about 36 per cent of the company’s revenue. Lowe FS now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter.
