Johnson & Johnson beats third-quarter earnings expectations, raises guidance

Johnson & Johnson beats third-quarter earnings expectations, raises guidance

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations, led by higher sales in its medical-device unit and higher demand for some of its drugs.

J&J reported an adjusted earnings of $2.20 per share, higher than the $1.98 per share projected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The company generated $21.08 billion in revenue, higher than the $20.2 billion expected and up from $20.72 last year.

The company also raised its full-year guidance, expecting adjusted earnings of $7.95 to $8.05 from per share from $7.75 to $7.95 per share. It also raised its sales forecast to a range of $82 billion to $82.8 billion from $79.9 billion to $81.4 billion.

J&J's pharmaceutical business, which is working on a coronavirus vaccine, generated $11.4 billion in revenue, a 5% year-over-year increase. The vaccine's late-stage trial was just paused after one of its participants reported an "adverse event," Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

J&J's share price fell1.5% on Tuesday, to $149.55 per share.

The company's consumer unit, which makes products such as Listerine, generated $3.5 billion in revenue, up 1.3% from a year earlier. Its medical device unit generated $6.1 billion, a 1.7% increase.

"Our world-class R&D team is working tirelessly to advance the Phase 3 trials of our COVID- 19 vaccine and to uphold the highest standards of transparency, safety and efficacy; while other dedicated teams provide ongoing support to hospitals and patients as they return to sites of care, and ensure patients and consumers have the medicines and products they need," J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said in a press release.

J&J began its phase three trial testing of its potential coronavirus vaccine last month, becoming the fourth drugmaker backed by the Trump administration's Covid-19 vaccine program Operation Warp Speed to enter late-stage testing.

J&J confirmed to STAT News on Monday that the 60,000-patient clinical trial had been temporarily paused due to an unexplained illness in a study participant.

AstraZeneca announced on Sept. 8 that its trial had been put on hold due to an unexplained illness in a patient in the United Kingdom. The trial has since resumed in the U.K. and other countries, but is still on hold in the United States.