Johnson & Johnson's stock gains after profit and revenue beat, raised outlook
Shares of Johnson & Johnson rallied 0.7% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the pharmaceutical and consumer products company reported first-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations, and raised its sales outlook. Net income slipped to $4.37 billion, or $1.60 a share, from $4.42 billion, or $1.61 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.06, above the FactSet consensus of $2.00. Revenue rose 12.6% to $20.01 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $19.50 billion, as consumer, pharmaceutical and medical device revenue all rose above expectations. For 2018, J&J raised its revenue guidance range to $81.0 billion to $81.8 billion from $80.6 million to $81.4 billion, and affirmed its adjusted EPS outlook of $8.00 to $8.20. Separately, the company said it was implementing cost-cutting actions aimed at producing annual savings of $600 million to $800 million by 2022, and which will lead to restructuring charges of $1.9 billion to $2.3 billion. The actions to be taken haven't been finalized. The stock has lost 5.7% year to date through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 0.6%.
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