Johnson & Johnson beats earnings estimates on strength of Tremfya and Darzalex

Johnson & Johnson beat Q2 earnings estimates with $25.31B in sales, driven by strong growth from drugs Tremfya and Darzalex. This performance helped offset declining sales from its off-patent drug Stelara. However, its medical technology unit underperformed due to a sales drop in its Abiomed heart pumps following a critical U.K. study. Despite this, J&J raised its full-year sales and profit forecast.

Quarterly earnings performance

• ▪Despite beating estimates, Johnson & Johnson's shares fell 1.5% in premarket trading on July 15, 2026.
• ▪The company's adjusted earnings for the second quarter were $2.90 per share, beating analyst expectations of $2.85.
• ▪Johnson & Johnson's second-quarter sales were $25.31 billion, a 6.6% increase from the previous year, exceeding analysts' average estimate of $25.05 billion.

Pharmaceutical unit growth

• ▪The growth in newer drugs like Tremfya is helping to offset falling revenue from Stelara, which has lost its patent protection.
• ▪The pharmaceutical unit generated $16.38 billion in quarterly sales, ahead of the $16.1 billion average estimate from analysts.
• ▪Sales of the immunology drug Tremfya jumped 72.5% to $2 billion, while sales of blood cancer treatment Darzalex were $4.2 billion.

Abiomed Impella sales decline

• ▪CFO Joseph Wolk said Johnson & Johnson expects the Abiomed franchise to return to growth and will release a large dataset in the first half of next year.
• ▪Sales from the Abiomed business, which makes Impella pumps, fell 2% in the second quarter after growing 14% in the first quarter.
• ▪Sales at Johnson & Johnson's medical technology unit were $8.93 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $8.97 billion.
• ▪The unit's performance was hurt by a drop in demand for Impella heart pumps following a U.K. study questioning their use in certain procedures.

Full-year outlook raise

• ▪Johnson & Johnson raised its full-year sales forecast to a midpoint of about $101.1 billion, up from $100.8 billion.
• ▪The company also increased its full-year adjusted earnings per share forecast to a midpoint of $11.68, from $11.55 previously.

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