Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines are seen at Northwell Health’s South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, New York, March 3, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Johnson & Johnson reported $ 100 million in first-quarter sales of its Covid-19 vaccine that has been suspended in the US on Tuesday as US health regulators investigate a rare blood clotting problem.
When releasing its first quarter financial results, the company also reported revenues and earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Here’s how J&J fared compared to what Wall Street expected, according to average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
- Adjusted earnings per share: $ 2.59 per share vs. $ 2.34 expected.
- Revenue: $ 22.32 billion vs. $ 21.98 billion forecast.
The New Jersey-based company’s stock price was essentially flat in premarket trading after the report.
J & J’s pharmaceutical business, which developed the single-shot Covid-19 vaccine, generated $ 12.19 billion in revenue, up 9.6% year-over-year. The results were due to the sale of Darzalex and Stelara, the company’s multiple myeloma medicine, a treatment for Crohn’s disease.
The company’s consumer unit, which makes products like Neutrogena Facial Cleanser and Listerine, generated $ 3.5 billion in revenue, down 2.3% from a year earlier. The medical devices unit generated $ 6.57 billion, an increase of 7.9%.
Joseph Wolk, J&J Chief Financial Officer, told CNBC on Tuesday that the three business segments are “ healthier ” than they entered the pandemic last year.
The company raised its earnings and revenue expectations for the year. J&J now expects full-year earnings of $ 9.42 to $ 9.57 per share, compared to its earlier forecast of $ 9.40 to $ 9.60 per share. It expects sales of between $ 90.6 billion and $ 91.6 billion, compared to the earlier forecast of $ 90.5 billion to $ 91.7 billion.
J & J’s financial results come as the company’s Covid-19 vaccine has been suspended in the United States after six women developed a rare but potentially life-threatening blood clotting disorder that left one dead and one critical.
The women developed the condition known as cerebral sinus vein thrombosis within about two weeks of receiving the injection, US health officials said. CVST is a rare type of stroke that occurs when a blood clot forms in the venous sinuses of the brain. It can eventually leak blood into the brain tissue and cause bleeding.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, said last week that the pause would give US health authorities the time they need to thoroughly investigate the cases and “find some common denominators among the women involved.”
Wolk told CNBC that the company is working with US regulators to make sure they have all the information they need to make a decision about using the J&J vaccine. He said he expects the US to make a decision by the end of this week. A key panel from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on Friday to make a recommendation on the vaccine.
“We remain confident and hope that the benefit-risk profile will materialize,” he told “Squawk Box,” adding that the company still expects to deliver 100 million doses in the first half of this year, should the US study to the cases of blood clots “going well”.