J&J reports Q4 sales, profit above estimates on cancer drug sales

Johnson & Johnson, fresh off a $14.6 billion deal to buy neurological drugmaker Intra-Cellular, reported fourth-quarter revenues and profit above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, driven by strong sales of its cancer treatments. 

J&J has been on an acquisition spree to boost its drugs and device businesses after spinning off its consumer unit in 2023.

Last week, it announced the Intra-Cellular acquisition - its biggest deal in two years - to boost its portfolio of psychiatric drugs. It expects the deal to hit its annual earnings this year by 30 to 35 cents. 

The New Jersey-based drugmaker expects 2025 sales of between $90.9 billion and $91.7 billion, and to earn between $10.75 and $10.95 per share, excluding the impact of the Intra-Cellular deal and a 25 cents per share hit from foreign currency. 

 

Analysts were expecting sales of $90.98 billion and a profit of $10.56 per share for 2025, according to data compiled by LSEG. 

However, investors said the 25 cent hit from a stronger dollar was above expectations, sending shares of the company down 1.5 per cent to $145.96 in premarket hours. 

The currency impact was a "negative surprise" in an otherwise routine quarterly report, said Jeff Jonas, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, which owns about 193,000 J&J shares. 

For the full year 2024, international revenues of $38.52 billion made up about 43.4 per cent of J&J's total sales. 

Cancer drugs 

Quarterly sales of J&J's cancer drugs rose 19 per cent worldwide, driven by more than $3 billion for multiple myeloma treatment Darzalex, which was up 20.9 per cent from a year ago. 

"Darzalex continues to be a pillar brand with respect to performance," said J&J Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk in an interview, noting that sales from Shockwave Medical also helped drive growth. 

Last year, J&J bought heart device maker Shockwave Medical for $13.1 billion. Shockwave generated $258 million in sales for the quarter and $564 million for the year, according to J&J. 

J&J's innovative medicine unit brought in fourth-quarter sales of $14.33 billion while its medtech unit generated $8.19 billion, up 4.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively compared to a year ago. 

Sales of J&J's blockbuster psoriasis treatment Stelara fell 14.7 per cent to $2.35 billion in the fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting sales of $2.25 billion, according to LSEG data. 

Close copies of Stelara launched in Europe, Canada and a few other markets last year. Several Stelara biosimilars are expected to launch in the U.S. this year. 

The drug and device maker expects operational sales at a compounded annual rate of 5 per cent-7 per cent between 2025 and 2030. 

"I think investors are perhaps a bit skeptical of those targets," said James Harlow, vice president of Novare Capital Management, which owns 121,000 shares of the company. 

For the full year, Stelara brought in revenue of $10.36 billion, making up more than 18 per cent of J&J's total drug sales of $56.96 billion for 2024 and missing estimates of $10.59 billion. 

Annual sales of the drug are expected to fall to about $7 billion this year. 

Darzalex brought in annual sales of $11.67 billion, making it J&J's biggest-selling drug. Analysts were expecting sales of $11.11 billion for this year. 

J&J's fourth-quarter sales stood at $22.52 billion, up 5.3 per cent from a year ago and above analysts' expectations of $22.42 billion, according to LSEG data. 

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.04 per share in the quarter - which includes a 22 cents charge related to its acquisition of medical device-maker V-Wave - nearly 11 per cent lower than the previous year but above analysts' estimates of $2.01 per share.   

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