J&J's cheery 2018 clouded by pessimism for 2019

22 January 2019

Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) slumped by 2% in Tuesday morning’s trading after the US healthcare conglomerate announced its 2018 financial results and outlook for 2019.

While 2018’s figures pointed to a year of healthy growth and earnings, estimated sales for the year ahead are predicted to stagnate, and rising litigation costs could suggest more legal costs are to come over allegations that J&J’s talcum powder causes cancer.

Fourth quarter sales sailed in at $20.4 billion, a 1% rise on a year ago and ahead of the $20.19 billion expected by an average of Wall Street analysts. For the full year, sales were up by a healthy 6.7% at $81.6 billion.

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