J&J's Stock Gains After Q2 Profit Beat Expectations

Johnson & Johnson's stock tacked on 0.7% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the drug and consumer products company reported a second-quarter profit that beat expectations and adjusted its outlook higher. Net earnings rose to $4.52 billion, or $1.61 a share, from $4.33 billion, or $1.51 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.71, above the FactSet consensus of $1.68. Sales declined 8.8% to $17.79 billion, in line with the FactSet consensus of $17.76 billion, as U.S. sales fell 2.4% and international sales dropped 14%. The negative impact of currency translation was 7.9%. Consumer sales slipped 7% to $3.5 billion, matching expectations, while pharmaceutical sales declined 6.6% to $7.9 billion. For the full year, the company revised its EPS outlook to a higher range of $6.10 to $6.20 from $6.04 to $6.19. The stock has lost 4.1% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 0.9%.