Healthcare and medical technology behemoth Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US), a renowned "blue-chip" stock in the U.S. market, disclosed its core fourth-quarter 2025 results and its 2026 financial outlook before the market opened on Wednesday. On an adjusted basis, the healthcare leader reported quarterly earnings of approximately $6 billion for Q4—representing a 22% year-over-year increase, or $2.46 per share, surpassing the average analyst estimate of $2.44 per share. Fourth-quarter revenue of $245.6 billion also exceeded the Wall Street consensus of $241.6 billion, indicating a better-than-expected 9.1% annual growth. Johnson & Johnson's overall Q4 sales and profit outperformed Wall Street forecasts, driven by robust sales of its blood cancer therapy Darzalex, steady growth from psoriasis drug Tremfya, and the formidable resilience of its medical device segment. The company's largest division, Innovative Medicine, saw its quarterly sales climb 10% to $157.6 billion, beating expectations of $153.7 billion.
In the fourth quarter, Johnson & Johnson's medical device business posted a stronger-than-expected 7.5% sales increase, reaching $88 billion, which also topped the company's own earlier projection of approximately $86.9 billion. This outperformance was largely fueled by its cardiac device operations, including key products integrated through the acquisition of Shockwave and contributions from the Abiomed business. In its latest earnings report, management provided a 2026 sales and profit forecast that exceeded the general Wall Street consensus, even after factoring in a "hundreds of millions of dollars" impact from a drug pricing and reduction agreement signed with the Trump administration earlier this month. With strong sales and profit growth in Q4 2025 that outpaced analyst estimates, Johnson & Johnson concluded 2025 on a resilient note despite the weight of Trump-era tariffs.
Johnson & Johnson is among the 16 major pharmaceutical companies that reached pricing agreements with the Trump administration, securing full exemptions from the imposed tariffs in exchange for lowering drug prices in the U.S. market. "We can't disclose specifics, but it involves a figure in the hundreds of millions of dollars," stated Johnson & Johnson CFO Joseph Wolk in a recent interview. "It also speaks to the strength of our team: we are able to absorb this pricing impact and still exceed the 2026 earnings expectations by a considerable margin." The company projected 2026 operational sales in the range of $995 billion to $1005 billion, which, according to analyst consensus data compiled by London's LSEG, is higher than Wall Street's average estimate of approximately $989 billion.
Management anticipates full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share to be between $11.43 and $11.63, compared to the analyst consensus of around $11.45 per share. "2025 was a year of rapid advancement… powered by our historically strongest pharmaceutical portfolio and an even more robust R&D pipeline," said Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato in a statement, adding that the groundbreaking cancer therapy Carvykti achieved annual sales exceeding $1 billion for the first time. This robust earnings report comes as the company navigates multiple challenges, including tariff uncertainties affecting its medical device unit and mounting pressure on its blockbuster psoriasis drug Stelara due to increasing competition from biosimilars. Earnings data revealed that Stelara's sales decline was steeper than analysts had anticipated.
"The fact that Stelara dropped as much as it did—perhaps even more than analysts thought—and we are still able to continue growing speaks volumes about the overall growth momentum from our pharmaceutical portfolio," commented CFO Wolk. "If you exclude Stelara from the portfolio, our product lineup would have delivered cumulative growth of 14%, even 15%. These are the products we will heavily rely on in the coming years and throughout the remainder of the decade." Despite the better-than-expected forecast and optimistic growth trajectory, the company's shares fell more than 3% in pre-market trading, though the losses narrowed significantly shortly thereafter. The stock had accumulated a gain of approximately 43% throughout 2025, outperforming the S&P 500 index and many competitors in the innovative medicine sector.
Johnson & Johnson's stock performance since the start of the year has also far exceeded that of the S&P 500, rising over 5% and bringing its market capitalization to a towering $5.257 trillion. The company has long held a significant weight in the S&P 500 index, exerting a notable influence on the broader movement of U.S. equities. On the day preceding this earnings release, a court-appointed special master recommended allowing expert testimony linking the company's talc products to ovarian cancer to be formally admitted in court. Johnson & Johnson has been contending with major talc-related lawsuits in federal and state courts for years, maintaining that its products are safe and do not cause cancer. The first federal "bellwether" trial is expected to commence as early as the second half of 2026.
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