|
J&J, Pfizer post healthy 1Q
|
 |
April 18, 2000: 11:34 a.m. ET
Pharmaceutical companies both exceed Wall St.'s profit forecasts
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Two of the largest U.S. drug makers -- Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc. -- posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings Tuesday on strong revenue growth.
Both stocks rose on the news. Shares of New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J (JNJ: Research, Estimates) gained 3-5/16, or more than 4 percent, to 80-13/16 in Tuesday trading, on top of a 6 percent gain a day earlier. New York-based Pfizer's (PFE: Research, Estimates) stock edged up 1-1/16 to 39-1/16.
Johnson & Johnson -- which makes well-known personal care products such as Band-Aids and baby shampoo as well as prescription drugs and medical devices -- earned $1.31 billion, or 93 cents per share, during the quarter, up from $1.1 billion, or 82 cents per share, a year earlier.
The results exceeded the 91-cent per share consensus estimate of analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call.
Revenue jumped 8.6 percent to a record $7.3 billion, driven primarily by an 18 percent gain in worldwide pharmaceutical sales. That helped overcome more sluggish sales in the company's consumer and professional divisions.
During the quarter, the company announced it would halt U.S. marketing of the popular heartburn medication Propulsid after the treatment was linked to fatal side effects in some patients. J&J stock slid about 12 percent after the March 23 announcement, as several Wall Street analysts downgraded the stock and reduced earnings estimates.
In a conference call with analysts, Reuters reported, the company said it had set aside a reserve of "modestly in excess of $30 million" to cover costs of the Propulsid recall. Company officials on Tuesday said the medicine had sales in the first quarter of $160 million, about $10 million more than had been expected. The drug posted an estimated $1 billion in sales last year.
The company said declining sales of Propulsid were offset by strong sales of anemia treatment Procrit/Eprex, anti-psychotic medication Risperdal, anti-infective Levaquin and other drugs.
Pfizer profits surge 33 percent
Meanwhile, Pfizer Inc. posted a 33 percent jump in first-quarter earnings.
The maker of male impotence remedy Viagra earned $1.1 billion, or 28 cents per diluted share, excluding a special gain -- an improvement from $815 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
Analysts surveyed by First Call forecast the company would earn 25 cents per share in the period.
The company netted a $135 million pretax gain from the sale of research-related equity investments in the first quarter. Including that one-time item, net income for the period climbed to a record $1.2 billion, or 31 cents per diluted share.
Revenue rose 10 percent to $4.3 billion from $3.9 billion.
The biggest gain came from alliance revenue, which showed a 65 percent increase to $665 million. Pfizer and merger partner Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA: Research, Estimates) co-market the lucrative cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. Pfizer also co-markets the blockbuster painkiller Celebrex with Pharmacia Corp.
Net sales rose a more modest 4 percent to $3.7 billion. Revenue from the sale of pharmaceuticals rose 11 percent, but would have risen 15 percent excluding currency fluctuations. Sales of Viagra rose 73 percent to $333 million worldwide.
After a months-long takeover fight, Pfizer agreed in February to buy Warner-Lambert for about $90 billion, breaking up Warner's proposed merger with American Home Products Corp. (AHP: Research, Estimates).
The Pfizer-Warner deal is expected to close later this year. Warner-Lambert is scheduled to post its first-quarter results Wednesday. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
