Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced Tuesday it beat analysts’ fourth-quarter expectations and gave its financial forecast for this year.
J&J forecast 2019 earnings of between $8.50 and $8.65 per share and revenue in the range of $80.4 billion to $81.2 billion. Analysts previously said they expected earnings $8.60 per share and $82.69 billion in revenue.
Earnings per share came in at $1.97, adjusted, as opposed to the $1.95 expected. Revenue registered at $20.4 billion vs. $20.2 billion expected
In the fourth quarter, Johnson & Johnson reported net income of $3.04 billion, or $1.12 per share, up from a loss of $10.7 billion, or a loss of $3.99 per share a year earlier due to amortization expenses and special items.
Excluding an amortization expense of $1 billion and a net charge for special items of $1.4 billion, J&J earned $1.97 per share, above the $1.95 per share expected.
Net sales rose 1% to $20.4 billion, above expectations of $20.2 billion.
CEO Alex Gorsky said, "Johnson & Johnson delivered another year of strong operational sales growth of 6.3% and achieved our 35th consecutive year of adjusted operational earnings growth at 9.8% in 2018. This can be attributed to accelerated underlying sales performance across each of our businesses, where we also leveraged our scale across the enterprise to improve margins."
J&J’s usually steady stock has been under pressure recently. A December report from Reuters said J&J knew for decades its talc baby powder contained asbestos. The company has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and stands behind its namesake baby powder.
Those shares slid $1.29, or 1%, to $129.40 soon after Tuesday’s open.
