JNJ Johnson and Johnson

By Dave Sebastian 

Johnson & Johnson's profit for the first quarter shot up as the coronavirus health crisis drove demand for over-the-counter medicine, though it said it might see a decline in sales this year as it spends more in response to the pandemic.

The New Brunswick, N.J., company posted net income of $5.8 billion, or $2.17 a share, compared with $3.75 billion, or $1.39 a share, in the comparable quarter last year.

Adjusted earnings were $2.30 a share, ahead of the $2.01 a share analysts polled by FactSet had expected.

World-wide sales rose 3.3% to $20.69 billion from the year-ago period, beating the $19.73 billion analysts had expected.

Sales in the U.S. rose 5.6% to $10.7 billion from the comparable quarter last year, and international sales ticked up 1% to $9.99 billion.

Sales of consumer products, which include Tylenol medicine and upper-respiratory products such as Zyrtec, rose 9.2% to $3.63 billion. The company has said that demand for Tylenol over-the-counter medicine rose as people sought to use the painkiller to reduce fever and relieve pain associated with Covid-19.

Sales in the company's pharmaceuticals division rose 8.7% to $11.13 billion, while those in its medical-devices business fell 8.2% to $5.93 billion as medical procedures got delayed during the pandemic.

The company on Tuesday also raised its quarterly dividend by 6.3% to $1.01 a share.

For 2020, J&J said it expects adjusted earnings of $7.50 a share to $7.90 a share, lower than its prior guidance of $8.95 a share to $9.10 a share. It sees sales of $77.5 billion to $80.5 billion, reflecting a decline of 2% to 5.5% from the year-ago period. Earlier this year it had expected 4% to 5% growth in sales.

In late March, J&J said it plans to begin human trials for its Covid-19 vaccine by September. The company said it has selected a lead candidate for the vaccine from the constructs it had been working on. It said it could obtain an emergency-use authorization to make the vaccine widely available early next year.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 14, 2020 07:22 ET (11:22 GMT)

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