Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ second-quarter 2026 earnings came in at $2.90 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.84. Earnings rose 4.7% from the year-ago period.
Adjusted earnings exclude intangible amortization expense and special items. Including these items, reported earnings were $2.27 per share, down 0.9% year over year.
Sales of this drug and medical devices giant came in at $25.3 billion, which marginally beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $25.2 billion.
Sales rose 6.6% from the year-ago quarter, reflecting an operational increase of 5.6% and a positive currency impact of 1.0%. Organically, excluding the impact of acquisitions/divestitures and currency, sales rose 5.7% on an operational basis.
Second-quarter sales in the domestic market rose 7.3% to $14.53 billion. Excluding the impact of all acquisitions and divestitures on an adjusted operational basis, domestic sales rose 7.4% in the quarter.
International sales rose 5.7% on a reported basis to $10.8 billion, reflecting an operational increase of 3.4% and a positive currency impact of 2.3%. Excluding the impact of all acquisitions and divestitures on an adjusted operational basis, international sales rose 3.5% in the quarter.
JNJ’s Innovative Medicine Sales Maintain Momentum
Innovative Medicine sales rose 7.8% year over year to $16.38 billion. Operational sales increased 6.8%, while adjusted operational growth was 6.9%. U.S. sales advanced 8.9%, and international sales increased 6% on a reported basis. Innovative Medicines sales slightly beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.16 billion.
Higher sales of key products such as Darzalex, Tremfya and Erleada due to strong market growth and share gains drove the segment’s growth. New drugs like Carvykti, Tecvayli, Talvey, Rybrevant and Spravato contributed significantly to growth. These gains were partly offset by lower sales of Stelara, Remicade, Imbruvica and Zytiga.
J&J’s Oncology Portfolio Delivers Strong Growth
Worldwide oncology sales increased 17.3% to $7.41 billion.
Sales of blockbuster multiple myeloma medicine Darzalex rose 18.9% to $4.21 billion in the quarter. Sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.16 billion.
Imbruvica sales declined 18.6% to $599 million. Rising competitive pressure in the United States due to new oral competition has been hurting Imbruvica's sales for the past few quarters. Imbruvica sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $630.0 million.
Erleada sales increased 9.5% to $995 million. Erleada sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06 billion.
Among the newer cancer drugs, Carvykti sales surged 49.4% to $657 million, while Tecvayli sales jumped 56.5% to $260 million.
Talvey sales advanced 63.3% to $174 million. Rybrevant/Lazcluze sales climbed 60.8% to $289 million.
JNJ’s Tremfya and Neuroscience Drugs Offset Stelara
Worldwide immunology sales declined 3.7% to $3.84 billion as biosimilar competition continued to put pressure on Stelara, whose sales fell 55.2% to $740 million. However, Stelara sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $654.0 million.
Several biosimilar versions of J&J’s multi-billion-dollar immunology drug, Stelara, were launched in the United States in 2025. According to patent settlements and license agreements, Amgen AMGN, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries TEVA, Samsung Bioepis/Sandoz, and some other companies have launched Stelara biosimilars.
Tremfya remained the key growth driver, with sales rising 72.5% to $2.05 billion. Tremfya sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 billion.
Remicade revenues decreased 25.8% to $338 million. Simponi and Simponi Aria sales declined 10.5% to $618 million.
Neuroscience sales increased 14% to $2.34 billion. Spravato revenues grew 40.8% to $584 million.
Caplyta, added from last year’s acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, generated $361 million, up 70.9% year over year.
Invega Sustenna/Xeplion/Invega Trinza/Trevicta sales rose 2.3% to $1.02 billion in the quarter.
JNJ’s PAH and Other Drugs’ Performance
Pulmonary hypertension drug Uptravi recorded second-quarter 2026 sales of $494 million, up 3.8% year over year. Opsumit/Opsynvi sales increased 3.4% to $602 million.
Xarelto sales rose 7.1% to $664 million. Sales of Prezista/Prezcobix/Rezolsta/Symtuza declined 6.3% to $372 million.
J&J’s MedTech Business Posts Broad-Based Gains
MedTech sales increased 4.5% to $8.93 billion, including operational growth of 3.6%. However, MedTech segment sales slightly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.96 billion.
Excluding the impact of all acquisitions and divestitures, and currency, on an adjusted operational basis, worldwide sales rose 3.7%.
The MedTech business has improved in the past few quarters, driven by strong performance in three focus areas: Cardiovascular, Surgery and Vision.
Cardiovascular sales rose 4% to $2.40 billion. Shockwave revenues advanced 14.6% to $335 million, while electrophysiology sales increased 4.4% to $1.53 billion.
Surgery sales grew 3.9% to $2.65 billion, supported by wound-closure and biosurgery products. Vision revenues increased 6% to $1.45 billion, led by contact lenses. Orthopaedics sales rose 4.9% to $2.42 billion, with trauma revenues increasing 7.6%.
JNJ Slightly Ups 2026 Guidance
J&J raised its 2026 reported sales guidance to $100.8-$101.4 billion from $100.3-$101.3 billion. The sales projection indicates growth in the range of 7.0%-7.6% versus the prior expectation of 6.5%-7.5%. Operational sales growth is expected in the range of 6.5%-7.1% versus the prior expectation of 5.9%-6.9%.
Adjusted operational sales (excluding currency impact, acquisitions/divestitures) growth is expected in the range of 6.2%-6.8% versus the prior expectation of 5.6%-6.6%.
Adjusted earnings per share guidance was raised from a range of $11.45-$11.65 to $11.60- $11.75 per share. Adjusted earnings per share growth is expected in the range of 7.5%-8.9% versus the prior expectation of 6.1%-8.1%.
Our Take on JNJ’s Q2 Results
Johnson & Johnson delivered a solid second-quarter performance, with adjusted earnings and sales topping expectations. Sales of key therapies — Darzalex and Tremfya — surpassed expectations, while Erleada fell short. Stelara sales were also better than expected. MedTech segment sales came in slightly below expectations.
Stelara’s loss of exclusivity (LOE) negatively impacted the Innovative Medicines segment’s growth by 760 basis points in the quarter. Despite Stelara's LOE, the Innovative Medicines unit once again outperformed estimates, driven primarily by strong momentum in oncology. Newer therapies and recent launches made a meaningful contribution to overall sales growth, helping offset biosimilar pressure. Encouraged by the quarter’s performance, J&J raised its 2026 financial guidance for the second time this year.
However, despite the beat and raise quarter, J&J’s shares declined more than 2% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, probably due to the MedTech miss and only a modest beat on overall sales.
J&J’s shares have risen 24% year to date compared with 12.1% appreciation of the industry.
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Nonetheless, J&J expects 2026 to be a year of accelerated growth. The company expects both its Innovative Medicines and MedTech segments to deliver stronger growth this year. The company is confident that it can achieve its target of generating more than $100 billion in revenues in 2026. Earlier, it had said that it expects sales to continue to improve in 2027, with a “line of sight” to double-digit growth by the end of the decade. An update is expected on the conference call.
J&J’s Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider
J&J currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Johnson & Johnson Price and Consensus
Johnson & Johnson price-consensus-chart | Johnson & Johnson Quote
A better-ranked drugmaker is Exelixis EXEL, which has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Exelixis’s shares have risen 27.2% so far this year. Estimates for its 2026 earnings per share have increased from $3.49 to $3.54 over the past 60 days.
Exelixis’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 17.04%.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).