Johnson & Johnson Beat Profit And Sales Expectations, Lifts Earnings Outlook

Johnson & Johnson reported Tuesday third-quarter earnings that rose to $4.27 billion, or $1.53 a share, from $3.36 billion, or $1.20 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.68, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.65. Revenue increased 4.2% to $17.82 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $17.74 billion, as bigger-than-expected increases in pharmaceutical and medical devices sales offset less-than-expected consumer sales. Looking ahead, the drug and consumer products giant lifted its EPS outlook to $6.68 to $6.73 from $6.63 to $6.73, and kept its revenue outlook at $71.5 billion to $72.2 billion. "With a number of regulatory approvals, several new drug application submissions and new breakthrough therapy designations from the FDA, we are increasingly confident in our pipeline expectation of filing 10 new pharmaceutical products between 2015 and 2019, each with revenue potential over $1 billion," said Chief Executive Alex Gorsky. The stock, which was indicated about 1% higher in premarket trade, has climbed 15% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.8%.