Johnson & Johnson's 1st-qtr earnings beat while sales miss expectations

US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) posted first-quarter 2017 financial results today, posted sales that missed analysts’ predictions while earnings were better than expected, with the announced sending the firm’s share up 1.68% to $123.61 in pre-market trading. However, by mid morning EDT, the stock was down 3.35% at $121.57.

Group sales of $17.8 billion for the first quarter represented an increase of 1.6% compared to the first quarter of 2016. Net earnings drifted 0.8% lower to $4.42 billion from last year's $4.46 billion. Earnings per share, however, grew 1.3% to $1.61 from $1.59 last year. Adjusted net earnings for the latest quarter were $5 billion or $1.83 per share, compared to $4.85 billion or $1.73 per share a year ago.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.76 per share on sales of $18.01 billion for the quarter, according to RTT News. On an operational basis, adjusted diluted earnings per share also increased 7.5%.