Johnson & Johnson's Stock Gains After Profit Beat, Raised Outlook

Johnson & Johnson's stock was indicated up 1% in light premarket trade Tuesday, after the consumer products and drug company beat first-quarter profit expectations, and lifted its full-year outlook. Earnings for the latest quarter were $4.3 billion, or $1.54 a share, compared with $4.32 billion, or $1.53 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.68, above the FactSet consensus of $1.65. Revenue rose 0.6% to $17.48 billion, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $17.49 billion, as 5.9% growth in pharmaceutical sales offset a 5.8% decline in consumer products and a 2.4% drop in medical devices. For 2016, company lifted its adjusted EPS outlook to $6.53 to $6.68 from $6.43 to $6.58 and revised its sales outlook to $71.2 billion to $71.9 billion from $70.8 billion to $71.5 billion. The stock has climbed 8% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.3%.