Johnson & Johnson tops 1Q profit forecasts

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $4.42 billion.

On a per-share basis, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company said it had profit of $1.61. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions and amortization costs, came to $1.83 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.77 per share.

The world's biggest maker of health care products posted revenue of $17.77 billion in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $18.01 billion.

Johnson & Johnson expects full-year earnings in the range of $7 to $7.15 per share, with revenue in the range of $75.4 billion to $76.1 billion.

Johnson & Johnson shares have risen 9 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed almost 5 percent. The stock has climbed 14 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on JNJ at https://www.zacks.com/ap/JNJ

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Keywords: Johnson & Johnson, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings