Johnson & Johnson hikes full-year profit forecast on pharma strength

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson hiked its full-year profit forecast for the second time in 2020, as strong demand for its cancer and Crohn’s disease treatments largely offset the impact to its businesses from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The strong third-quarter results come a day after the company said it had temporarily paused its COVID-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials due to an unexplained illness in a study participant, delaying one of the highest profile efforts to contain the global pandemic.

In the third quarter, sales rose to $21.08 billion from $20.73 billion, helped by rise in sales of its cancer drugs Darzalex and Imbruvica, as well as Crohn’s disease drug Stelara.

The company expects full-year 2020 adjusted profit of $7.95 to $8.05 per share, from its prior range of $7.75 to $7.95 per share.

Profit more than doubled to $3.55 billion in the third quarter, from a year earlier when the company had recorded “other expenses” of $4.21 billion.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.20 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.98 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)