Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) shares rose Tuesday after the U.S. pharmaceutical giant reported stronger sales, posted first-quarter results that topped Wall Street forecasts and raised its fiscal guidance.
However, the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company said its results were affected by a negative worldwide currency impact of 6.6%, as well as by Venezuela's currency devaluation.
Johnson & Johnson stock was was up 0.81% to $111.83 a share before U.S. financial markets opened.
The company's adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter came in at $1.68 billion, above the $1.65 consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Johnson & Johnson said its quarterly revenues were $17.48 billion, nearly matching the $17.491 billion prediction of Wall Street analysts.
Net income dipped to $4.29 billion, or $1.54 a share, down from $4.32 billion, or $1.53 a share, for last year's first quarter, the company reported.
Johnson & Johnson raised its sales guidance for the full year to $71.2 billion to $71.9 billion, reflecting expectations of improved foreign currency exchange rates. The company had predicted full-year sales of $70.8 billion to $71.5 billion three months ago.
Similarly, the firm increased its adjusted full-year earnings guidance to $6.53-$6.68 a share, up from earlier forecasts of $6.43 to $6.58 a share.
The forecasts assume that an equivalent and less expensive competitor for Remicade, the company's key arthritis medication Remicade, won't hit the market this year, Johnson & Johnson CFO Dominic Caruso told Bloomberg Go. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Inflectra, a rival medication for Remicade, on April 5.
Johnson & Johnson said its worldwide operational sales growth was driven in part by new products, including Imbruvica, an oral therapy cancer medication approved for treating some B-cell malignancies, and Darzalex, a drug used to treat patients suffering from multiple myeloma, a blood cell cancer.
But the company also reported lower sales of Olysio, its hepatitis C medication, as rival treatments competed to treat patients.
The results were announced amid Johnson & Johnson move to cut costs in its medical devices business. In January, the company said it would eliminate approximately 3,000 of the division's jobs, affecting 4% to 6% of the head count in medical devices.
Worldwide medical devices sales for the first quarter dropped 2.4% from the same period last year to $6.1 billion, the company said.
