Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street’s expectations but missed slightly on revenue, the company said Wednesday.
"We delivered strong underlying sales and earnings growth in 2019, driven by the strength of our pharmaceutical business, accelerating performance in our medical devices business and improved profitability in our consumer business," J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said.
J&J’s pharmaceutical business posted revenue of $10.54 billion, a 3.5% increase year over year. The company’s consumer unit, which makes beauty products such as Neutrogena, generated $3.5 billion in revenue, up 0.9% from a year ago. J&J’s medical device unit reported revenue of $6.63 billion, down half a percentage point from last year.
J&J, the maker of popular consumer product brands like Tylenol and Aveeno, is facing numerous lawsuits ranging from claims that its talc-based baby powder causes cancer to allegations that it helped fuel that nationwide opioid epidemic.
Its litigation expenses dramatically fell to $264 million in the quarter, compared with $1.29 billion a year ago.
Despite the litigation, J&J shares have increased by more than 2% so far this year. The S&P 500 has climbed by nearly 3%.
The company sees 2020 earnings of between $8.95 per share and $9.10 a share, with revenue in the range of $85.4 billion to $86.2 billion.
JNJ shares plunged $1.83, or 1.2%, to $147.44.
