Business

J&J Covid Vaccine Added $502 Million to Third-Quarter Sales

A lab worker holds a vial of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson via Reuters
  • Johnson & Johnson said it sold $502 million of its Covid-19 vaccine in the third quarter.
  • The company's earnings beat Wall Street's profit expectations but revenue missed forecasts.

Johnson & Johnson said it sold $502 million of its Covid-19 vaccine in the third quarter, in its earnings report Tuesday that beat Wall Street's profit expectations.

Here's how J&J did compared with what Wall Street expected, according to average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:

  • Adjusted EPS: $2.60 per share vs $2.35 expected.
  • Revenue: $23.34 billion vs $23.72 billion expected.

J&J increased its full-year earnings guidance to between $9.77 per share and $9.82 per share, from its previous estimates of $9.60 to $9.70 per share. It expects sales to range from $94.1 billion to $94.6 billion, up from previous guidance of $93.8 billion to $94.6 billion.

At the same time, the company maintained its Covid vaccine sales outlook for the year at $2.5 billion.

Shares of J&J jumped more than 2% in early trading.

The company's better-than-expected profit was bolstered by higher sales in its consumer health, pharmaceutical and medical devices units.

Its consumer unit, which makes products such as Neutrogena face wash and Listerine, generated $3.7 billion in revenue, up 5.3% from a year earlier.

J&J's pharmaceutical business, which developed the single-shot Covid vaccine, generated $12.9 billion in revenue, a 13.8% year-over-year increase.

Its medical device unit generated $6.6 billion, an 8% rise. That unit was hit hard last year as the coronavirus pandemic forced hospitals to postpone elective surgeries and Americans stayed home.

J&J Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk told CNBC the revenue miss is due to the Covid vaccine and medical device unit.

The company has maintained its vaccine sales outlook for the year, and it plans to ship as much as it can through the rest of the year, he said on "Squawk Box." J&J also experienced "fluctuations in elective procedures with the delta variant."

J&J's report came under a shadow of criticism about how it handled the opioid crisis and the development of a comparatively less-effective Covid vaccine under outgoing CEO Alex Gorsky.

In a press release, Gorsky said the financial results "demonstrate solid performance across Johnson & Johnson, driven by robust above-market results in Pharmaceuticals, ongoing recovery in Medical Devices, and strong growth in Consumer Health."

Earlier this month, the company asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a booster dose of its single-shot Covid vaccine.

An influential FDA advisory committee on Friday said the agency should authorize boosters of J&J's vaccine to the more than 15 million Americans who have already received the initial dose. A final decision by the FDA is expected within days.

Correction: This story was updated to reflect that J&J missed revenue estimates.

Copyright CNBC
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