REUTERS: Johnson & Johnson hiked its full-year operational sales forecast as strong demand for its cancer drugs Darzalex and Imbruvica helped it beat estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday.
Overall strength in J&J's pharmaceuticals unit, bolstered by recent approvals for new treatments such as its cancer drug Erleada also helped drive its earnings beat.Pharmaceutical sales rose 1.7per cent to US$10.53 billion, above analysts' estimates of US$10.27 billion, according to three analysts polled by Refinitiv.
The company raised its operational sales forecast for 2019 to US$82.4 billion to US$83.2 billion, from a prior range of US$82 billion to US$82.8 billion. The diversified healthcare company, the first major U.S. drugmaker to report second-quarter results, said net earnings rose to US$5.61 billion, or US$2.08 per share, from US$3.95 billion, or US$1.45 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned US$2.58 per share, beating analysts' expectations for US$2.46 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.The company reported a quarterly litigation expense of US$409 million, down from US$703 million a year earlier.