Johnson & Johnson cuts annual profit forecast on hit from stronger dollar
2022.07.19 14:50
FILE PHOTO: People pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken, December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday cut its full-year adjusted profit and sales forecast due to a hit from a stronger dollar, even as the company’s pharmaceuticals unit helped it beat second-quarter profit estimates.
J&J joins other major U.S. multinationals, including Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and IBM (NYSE:IBM), warning of a knock from the strength of the U.S. currency.
The dollar has soared 12% this year through July, and is expected to remain strong for at least the next three months, a Reuters poll of FX analysts showed.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s pharmaceuticals unit, its largest, has helped the company soften the blow from its pandemic-battered medical device business.
A double-digit growth in sales of cancer drug Darzalex and Crohn’s disease drug Stelara helped the company beat estimates for second-quarter profit.
Total sales rose about 3% to $24.02 billion, with nearly half of the sales coming from outside the United States.
In the reported quarter, sales at the company’s medical devices unit fell 1.1% to $6.90 billion, hurt by “COVID-19 related mobility restrictions in certain regions”.
J&J also reported $544 million in sales from its COVID-19 vaccine.
The company suspended the sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccine in April, due to weak demand for the shot in high-income countries as well as hesitancy in low-income nations.
J&J now expects a full-year adjusted profit of $10.00 to $10.10 per share, from its prior forecast of $10.15 to $10.35.
The company’s net earnings fell to $4.81 billion, or $1.80 per share, in the second quarter, from $6.28 billion, or $2.35 per share, a year earlier.
