J&J beats Wall Street estimates on strong drug sales

By Patrick Wingrove and Bhanvi Satija

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) beat estimates for second-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday, driven by strong sales of its drugs, including cancer treatment Darzalex and blockbuster psoriasis drug Stelara.

Revenue of $22.4 billion surpassed the consensus estimate of $22.3 billion, according to LSEG data. Adjusted earnings of $2.82 per share beat analysts’ expectations of $2.70 per share.

Stelara sales rose 3.1% to $2.89 billion, topping analysts’ estimate of $2.77 billion according to LSEG data. Darzalex sales rose 18.4% to $2.88 billion, in line with analysts’ average estimate of $2.86 billion.

The New Jersey-based drugmaker said it now expected total 2024 sales of $89.2 billion to $89.6 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $88.7 billion to $89.1 billion.

J&J also lowered its annual per-share forecast to a range of $10 to $10.10 from $10.60 to $10.75, to account for a 5-cent increase from improved performance and a decrease of 68 cents related to costs from mergers and acquisitions including its $13 billion purchase of cardiac medical device company Shockwave.

That was among J&J’s several deals this year, including its May purchase of experimental skin disorder drugs in two acquisitions worth $2.1 billion.

Sales for its medical technology business rose 2.2% to $7.96 billion from $7.79 billion ⁠a year earlier, but fell short of analysts’ estimate of $8.17 billion.

STELARA TO FACE RIVALS

Analysts expect Stelara sales of more than $10 billion this year, but this could fall to about $7 billion in 2025 when as many as six close copies of the drug are due to launch in the U.S.

J&J Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk said he expected to finalize contracts within the next three months that would determine favorable U.S. insurance coverage for Stelara in 2025.

“I’ll remind you that we are still calling for growth in our pharmaceutical business despite the biosimilar competition that we intend to encounter next year,” he said.

Darzalex, a blood cancer therapy launched in 2015, is expected to bring in sales of more than $11 billion for J&J this year, analysts said.

Despite falling 8.5% from last year’s quarter, sales of J&J’s cancer drug Imbruvica reached $770 million, beating analysts’ estimate of $718 million.

The company’s cancer cell therapy, Carvykti, generated sales of $186 million, up nearly 60% from a year earlier, but fell short of the $201 million analysts had predicted.

Tight supply has limited Carvykti sales, with the company working to boost production capacity at its plants in New Jersey and Belgium.