Johnson & Johnson hiked its full-year operational sales forecast as strong demand for its cancer drugs Darzalex and Imbruvica helped it beat estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday.
Overall strength in J&J's pharmaceuticals unit, bolstered by recent approvals for new treatments such as its cancer drug Erleada also helped drive its earnings.
Pharmaceutical Division
Pharmaceutical sales rose 1.7% to $10.53 billion (€9.4 billion), above analysts' estimates of $10.27 billion (€9.2 billion), according to three analysts polled by Refinitiv.
The company raised its operational sales forecast for 2019 to $82.4 billion (€73.4 billion) to $83.2 billion (€74.1 billion), from a prior range of $82 billion (€73.1 billion) to $82.8 billion (€73.8 billion).
The diversified healthcare company, the first major US drugmaker to report second-quarter results, said net earnings rose to $5.61 billion (€5 billion), or $2.08 per share, from $3.95 billion (€3.5 billion), or $1.45 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned $2.58 per share, beating analysts' expectations for $2.46 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The company reported a quarterly litigation expense of $409 million (€364.5 million), down from $703 million (€626.5 million) a year earlier.
Sales fell 1.3% to $20.56 billion but came in ahead of estimates for $20.29 billion (€18.1 billion).
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
