Sales of Johnson & Johnson’s oncology drugs jumped nearly 19% in the third quarter, driven by cancer treatment Darzalex which brought in more than $3 billion.
Johnson & Johnson released its third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, touting strong revenue growth that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations—alongside a more optimistic full-year outlook.
In Q3, the pharma generated nearly $22.5 billion in sales, representing 5.2% year-over-year growth—excluding the impact of translational currency—and beating the consensus estimate of nearly $22.2 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS), on the other hand, dipped 9% year-on-year to $2.42, though still outperforming the $2.21 EPS that analysts were expecting, according to Seeking Alpha.
J&J’s Innovative Medicine unit continued to be the main driver of its business, bringing in around $14.6 billion in Q3, accounting for around two-thirds of its total sales.
Oncology remained J&J’s most lucrative segment, which brought in $5.38 billion in sales in the quarter. The multiple myeloma therapy Darzalex was the pharma’s top asset with more than $3 billion in reported sales worldwide. Jefferies analyst Peter Welford in a note to investors pointed out that Darzalex’s sales beat consensus expectations by 2%.
Other high-performing assets in Q3 included the antidepressant nasal spray Spravato, which saw a nearly 55% jump in sales, and the CAR T therapy Carvykti , which surged almost 88% in the quarter. The prostate cancer treatment Erleada was also notable, growing 25.4% year-over-year to earn $790 million worldwide.
While immunosuppressive drug Stelara also contributed heavily to J&J’s overall Q3 sales—raking in nearly $2.7 billion in the quarter—the blockbuster therapy is already seeing revenue erosion from mounting biosimilar competition. Its revenue was hit with a 6.6% decline from the same period in 2023.
Guggenheim Securities analyst Vamil Divan said in an investor note that J&J’s strong Q3 showing is “mainly due to better-than-expected performance by assets such as Darzalex, Carvykti and Erleada,” adding that the miss in the pharma’s medtech division only partially offset the sales of its Innovative Medicine unit.
“We do not believe the 3Q 2024 results fundamentally change the overall JNJ story, with investors likely focusing more on the performance of current growth drivers,” Divan wrote, referring to assets such as Carvykti, Spravato and the anti-inflammatory antibody Tremfya.
Looking forward, J&J raised its full-year operational sales guidance to $89.4 billion to $89.9 billion, up from a previous range of $89.2 billion to $89.6 billion. However, adjusted operational EPS was lowered to $9.86 to $9.96, from a previous forecast of $10.00 to $10.00, to accommodate dilution from the recently closed acquisition of medical device maker V-Wave.
