Johnson & Johnson reported a slightly higher-than-expected profit on Tuesday, driven by strong sales of its immune disease treatment, Tremfya, and said it plans to spin off its hips-and-knees business next year.
The company said late last year it intended to separate its orthopedics unit, DePuy Synthes, into a standalone company, marking its second major spinoff as it sharpens its focus on higher-growth healthcare segments.
Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk said on a conference call to discuss company results that J&J remains on track for a mid-2027 separation of DePuy Synthes.
“Given the way DePuy Synthes is performing… we are leaning towards a spin as being the best option to create long-term value for Johnson & Johnson shareholders. That has always been our base plan, and we are confident that it can be successfully executed,” he said.
Apollo Global Management is in talks to acquire the orthopedics unit in a ​deal that could value it at close to $20 billion, Bloomberg News reported in September.
J&J shares were off about 2% before the bell.
Middle East conflict weighs on MedTech
Wolk, in an interview, told Reuters the Middle East conflict, austerity measures in Europe and pricing in China continued to weigh on results internationally, “but maybe in a little bit more pronounced way.”
He said the Middle East conflict, which has driven up fuel costs, has not yet affected the company’s costs but has hurt sales in the region.
“These are countries that still value and actually want premium healthcare systems, think Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia. They pride themselves on having solid healthcare, very good healthcare,” Wolk said. “But their budgets now are being resourced and allocated towards defense.”
Medical technology division sales rose 2.5% to $8.6 billion overall, missing analysts’ estimates of $8.71 billion, according to LSEG data. Outside the US, sales were essentially flat.
The company raised its full-year sales forecast to about $101.2 billion at the midpoint, from $101.1 billion previously. It increased its adjusted earnings forecast range with a new midpoint of $11.10 per share, up from $11.04.
Sales at J&J’s Abiomed heart pump business remained slow after a UK study earlier this year raised questions about using Impella pumps in certain high-risk ​coronary procedures.
The MedTech miss was largely in cardio and surgery, J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott said.
Quarterly pharmaceutical sales jumped 7.7% to $16.76 billion.
“While the results overall are generally in line with expectations, we believe investors will be disappointed in some of the details within the results,” said Guggenheim analyst Vamil Divan, noting that the MedTech results were “somewhat disappointing.”
Divan pointed to strong sales of older products such as Stelara and Simponi, adding that Tremfya and Tecvayli, a multiple myeloma treatment, were the only newer, strategically important products that appear to have meaningfully beaten expectations.
Tremfya sales for Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions rose 68% to $2.4 billion, beating analyst estimates of about $2.2 billion, while Stelara sales, which face generic competition, fell 54% to $716 million, still well above diminished Wall Street expectations of $591 million. Tremfya has increasingly replaced lost Stelara revenue following recent approvals in inflammatory bowel diseases.
Sales of blood cancer treatment Darzalex rose about 16% to $4.24 billion, short of analysts’ expectations of $4.4 billion.
The company posted third-quarter revenue of $25.4 billion, above estimates of $25.28 billion, and adjusted earnings of $2.59 per share, topping Wall Street expectations by 5 cents.