The American stock market giant blue chip Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) is resisting the "hundreds of millions of dollars" impact on drug prices! Provides a strong outlook for performance, with Q4 innovative drug sales increasing by 10%.

Johnson & Johnson, a medical technology and pharmaceutical giant known as a "big blue chip" in the US stock market, announced its core performance data for the fourth quarter of 2025 and its performance outlook for 2026 before the US stock market opened on Wednesday. According to adjusted figures, this leading healthcare company recorded a quarterly profit of approximately $6 billion in the fourth quarter, which represents a 22% year-on-year increase, or $2.46 per share. Analysts had previously estimated earnings per share to be around $2.44. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $24.56 billion, higher than the Wall Street analysts' average expectation of $24.16 billion, indicating a better-than-expected year-on-year growth of 9.1%. In the fourth quarter, Johnson & Johnson's overall sales and profits exceeded Wall Street expectations, benefiting from strong sales of the blood cancer therapy Darzalex, steady growth of the psoriasis drug Tremfya, and the strong performance of its medical device business. The company's largest Innovative Medicine division achieved a 10% increase in sales this quarter to $15.76 billion, surpassing the expected $15.37 billion. In the fourth quarter, Johnson & Johnson's medical device business sales exceeded expectations with a 7.5% increase to $8.8 billion, higher than the company's previous expectation of approximately $8.69 billion. The better-than-expected growth in this business was predominantly driven by its cardiovascular devices, including key devices acquired through the purchase of Shockwave and Abiomed. In the latest performance report, Johnson & Johnson's management announced that their sales and profit expectations for 2026 are higher than the general expectations of Wall Street analysts, despite facing a "multi-million dollar" impact due to the drug price reduction and pricing agreement with the Trump administration earlier this month. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Johnson & Johnson achieved strong sales and profit growth, surpassing Wall Street expectations and finishing the year with resilient growth under pressure from Trump's tariffs. Johnson & Johnson is one of the 16 major pharmaceutical companies that reached a pricing agreement with the Trump administration, offering lower drug prices in the US market in exchange for complete exemptions from Trump's tariffs. "We can't disclose specific details, but this involves multi-million dollar amounts," said Johnson & Johnson's Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk in a recent interview. "This also reflects the strength of our team: being able to exceed (analyst) performance expectations for 2026 to a significant extent while digesting the impact of this price reduction." The company expects sales, calculated by operational metrics, for 2026 to be in the range of $99.5 billion to $100.5 billion, higher than the general Wall Street analyst estimate of approximately $98.9 billion compiled by the London LSEG. Johnson & Johnson's management expects adjusted earnings per share for the full year of 2026 to be in the range of $11.43 to $11.63, compared to the general Wall Street analyst estimate of $11.45 per share. "2025 was a year of rapid development...thanks to our strongest-ever portfolio of pharmaceutical products and a more robust research pipeline," said Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato in a statement, adding that the new breakthrough cancer therapy Carvykti achieved sales of over $1 billion for the first time. This strong financial report comes as the company faces multiple challenges, including tariff uncertainty for its medical devices division and pressure on its flagship psoriasis drug Stelara due to increased competition from biosimilars. Financial data shows that Stelara's sales decline exceeded analysts' expectations. "The fact that Stelara has come down so much - maybe even more than analysts thought - and we can still continue to grow, further demonstrates the strong overall growth impact of our pharmaceutical products," said the company's CFO Wolk. "If you remove Stelara from the mix, our product portfolio can achieve cumulative growth of 14%, even 15%. These will be important products we rely on in the coming years and for the remainder of this decade." Despite exceeding performance forecasts and showing optimistic growth trends, the company's stock price initially fell by over 3% in pre-market trading, but the decline narrowed significantly shortly thereafter. Its stock price rose by approximately 43% in 2025, outperforming the S&P 500 index and its competitors in the innovative pharmaceutical industry. Johnson & Johnson's stock performance since the beginning of the year has also outperformed the S&P 500 index, rising by over 5% with a market value of $525.7 billion. Johnson & Johnson has long held a significant weight in the S&P 500 index, exerting influence on the overall performance of the US stock market. The day before the latest performance announcement, a court-appointed special master recommended allowing expert testimony - linking the company's talcum products to ovarian cancer - to be formally admitted in court. Johnson & Johnson has been facing significant claims related to its talcum products in federal and state courts for years, asserting that its products are safe and do not cause any level of carcinogenic effects. The first Bellwether Trial in federal court is expected to start no earlier than the second half of 2026.