Johnson & Johnson (
JNJ
) will kick-off the second-quarter earnings season for the Consumer
Healthcare sector when it reports on the morning of Tuesday, July
17th. While the stock is outperforming the broader equities market
very modestly on Monday (down 0.05 percent versus a 0.14 percent
decline in the Dow), shares have risen almost 9 percent over the
last month as investors positioned themselves ahead of results,
sharply better than a 1.5 percent gain in the DJIA.
Analysts on the Street are currently looking for Johnson &
Johnson to post quarterly earnings of $1.29 per share on sales of
$16.70 billion. J&J issued EPS of $1.41 on sales of $16.14
billion last quarter (first quarter of 2012), and earnings of $1
per share on sales of $16.6 billion during the second quarter of
2011.
Over the last seven quarters, as shown by our
J&J Earnings History
page, the company has bested Wall Street's estimates by an average
of 2.7 percent.
Analysts are neutral-to-bullish on J&J shares ahead of the
quarterly report: our
Ratings
section shows eight firms with a Buy rating on the stock, eight
with a Hold rating, and non suggesting to sell.
Analyst Commentary:
- Goldman Sachs - The firm is looking for EPS of $1.27 and
noted uncertainty related to whether or not the Street's
consensus reflects changes in foreign exchange. The firm is
expecting sales to be right inline with the consensus.
Goldman offered the following issues to watch for:
- New CEO Alex Gorsky's insights into strategy, priorities,
and departure if any from predecessors.
- Color on procedural volumes and MD&D pricing dynamics.
- Integration of now closed Synthes deal.
- Commercial outlook for Xarelto given delayed competition
from Eliquis, Zytiga post pre-chemo data.
- Timing and outlook for OTC products returning to the
market.
- Timing of top line data for bapineuzumab.
Goldman maintains a Neutral rating into the results.
J&J generally reports at 7:45am ET. Stay tuned to our
Earnings
category to get all the latest news within seconds of the company
press release.
Johnson & Johnson will host a conference call at 8:30am ET to
review the results. Visit
www.investor.jnj.com
to join the webcast.