By Michael Erman and Mrinalika Roy
April 14 (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson beat first-quarter earnings expectations on Tuesday and raised its full-year forecast, as strong demand for cancer drug Darzalex and psoriasis treatment Tremfya more than offset a steep falloff in sales of its blockbuster autoimmune drug Stelara.
And the company expressed confidence in its just-approved once-daily, oral psoriasis treatment, Icotyde, saying about 1,500 prescriptions had been written in just a few weeks.
First-quarter revenue rose nearly 10% from a year earlier to $24.1 billion, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $23.6 billion, according to LSEG data. Adjusted earnings came in at $2.70 per share, above the consensus estimate of $2.66.
Shares, which have risen 15% so far this year, were up about 0.5% at $239.
“Some may question if the earnings are enough given the year-to-date stock move, but it seems to us a good start to the year,” Citi analysts said.
STELERA EROSION, ICOTYDE LAUNCH
Stelara, which topped $10 billion in annual sales at its peak, is facing biosimilar competition after losing patent protection last year. Sales of the drug, which treats psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions, fell around 60% from a year ago to $656 million.
Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk said in an interview that instead of switching to the biosimilars, many patients have chosen other treatments like Tremfya.
“We are seeing increased share in Tremfya and we anticipate we’ll see something similar in the new oral offering,” Wolk said, referring to Icotyde, which was approved in March.
The company said it was seeing broad uptake of Icotyde across physician groups so far. Executives said its efficacy, safety, and convenience could position it as an initial choice therapy, with potential expansion into inflammatory bowel disease.
“It’s off to a very fast start… and we think it’s got the potential to become one of our biggest products,” said Jennifer Taubert, a J&J executive vice president.
Tremfya, which treats psoriasis as well as inflammatory bowel diseases, generated $1.6 billion in quarterly sales, beating estimates of $1.2 billion.
Sales of blood cancer treatment Darzalex were $4 billion for the quarter, easily beating analysts’ expectations of $3.4 billion.
“JNJ has emerged as one of the cleaner names in the group as the company moves beyond the Stelara loss of exclusivity and with healthy growth in its core portfolio,” J.P.Morgan analysts said. “We see JNJ as capable of generating sustained top-tier growth.”
MODEST FORECAST RAISE The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue forecast range with a new midpoint of about $100.8 billion, just above Wall Street’s estimate of $100.6 billion. It also lifted its adjusted earnings outlook to $11.55 per share at the midpoint, about in line with current expectations.
Some analysts suggested that the forecast raise was likely conservative, setting the stage for greater potential upside as the year progresses.
On the medical devices side of the business, quarterly sales rose 7.7% to $8.6 billion, in line with analysts’ expectations.
Tim Schmid, executive vice president of the division, on a call with analysts described the quarter as “seasonally quieter, but operationally solid.”
J&J is among the group of top global drugmakers that have agreed to so-called most-favored-nation drug pricing deals with the Trump administration. The companies have said they will lower their U.S. drug prices to match those charged in other developed countries, in exchange for tariff relief.
The company expects the impact of the agreement to be evenly distributed throughout the year.
President Donald Trump has asked for Congress to codify the most-favored-nation deals through legislation, but Wolk said J&J believes that would be bad policy.
“We’re not a fan of codifying” MFN, the CFO said. “It’s really kind of a back door to price controls and we’ve seen what happens in countries with price controls – patients have less access to the most important medicines and innovation goes down.”
(Reporting by Michael Erman in New Jersey; Additional reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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