BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Big Pharma Company Beats Wall Street Expectations Following Price Hikes on Blockbuster Products
This week, Johnson & Johnson reported third quarter earnings that beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations after already hiking prescription drug prices more than 30 times so far this year.
During Johnson & Johnson’s third quarter earnings call, an analyst from Wolfe Research posed a question regarding long term guidance for the pharmaceutical giant. In response, Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato boasted of strong confidence in the company’s financial performance, “I want to underline this is not only a very strong quarter, it’s also an indication, a signal that Johnson & Johnson is in an accelerated cycle of growth, which we expect is going to last the balance of the decade.” Johnson & Johnson is one of the many pharmaceutical companies that routinely hikes the prices of their blockbuster drugs, directly contributing to increased sales, revenue and the company’s overall growth.
Get a full recap of Johnson & Johnson’s Q3 earnings here:
Johnson & Johnson
- Johnson & Johnson reported third quarter earnings that beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
- The Big Pharma giant brought in sales of $23.99 billion, beating expectations of $23.76 billion.
- Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical business rose 6.8 percent in the quarter, driven by cancer drugs Darzalex and Carvykti and immunology treatments Tremfya and Simponi.
- Johnson & Johnson raised its sales outlook for 2025 to between $93.5 billion and $93.9 billion, up from the previous range of $93.2 billion to $93.6 billion.
Johnson & Johnson’s considerable earnings go hand in hand with the steady pattern of hiking prices on blockbuster drugs.
Johnson & Johnson
- Johnson & Johnson has hiked prices on 31 prescription drugs in 2025, including a 5.5 percent increase on multiple myeloma drug Darzalex and a 4.7 percent increase on psoriasis drug Stelara.
- Johnson & Johnson engaged in 35 price hikes in 2024, including a 6.3 percent increase on Darzalex, and five percent increases on Erleada and Stelara.
- According to a December 2024 ICER report, price hikes that were unsupported by new clinical evidence on multiple myeloma drug Darzalex led to additional consumer spending of $190 million.
- Johnson & Johnson also engaged in 36 price hikes in 2023, including a 4.5 percent increase on Darzalex, a five percent increases on Erleada and a four percent increase on Stelara.
- Spending on the company’s blockbuster cancer drug Imbruvica is expected to exceed $41 billion between 2027-2036 thanks to an anti-competitive patent scheme that extended a monopoly on the high-priced cancer drug by more than nine years. Imbruvica costs an eye-popping $180,000 per year.
Stay tuned as we continue to monitor third quarter earnings calls from brand name drug companies in the coming weeks.
Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.
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