NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Health-care and consumer products maker Johnson & Johnson reported improved second-quarter results Tuesday that edged past Wall Street expectations.

Johnson & Johnson earned $2.1 billion, or 70 cents a share, before charges. That was up from $1.8 billion, or 60 cents a share, it earned excluding special items in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had a consensus earnings per share forecast of 69 cents.

Including special items, such as a $900 million charge for in-process research and development costs associated with the acquisitions, the company reported net income of $1.2 billion, or 40 cents a share, down from $1.7 billion, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier.

The maker of Band-Aids, Tylenol and prescription drugs had revenue of $10.3 billion, the first time it has crossed the $10 billion mark in quarterly sales. That's up 14 percent from $9.1 billion a year earlier, and it beats First Call's revenue forecast of $10.2 billion. Without the change in currency exchange rates the company would have seen a 9 percent gain in revenue.

Sales of consumer products sales were up 6.4 percent on a constant-currency basis and 10.3 percent overall to $1.8 billion. Pharmaceuticals saw a 10.1 percent rise without the decline in value of the dollar and a 14.7 percent overall gain to $4.9 billion. Medical device and diagnostics division saw a 14.6 percent gain overall and an 8.5 percent gain with constant currency to $3.6 billion.

Overall sales outside the United States amounted to 41 percent of sales, and international sales saw a 8.4 percent rise without the change in currency, compared to a 9.2 percent gain in domestic sales.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: Research, Estimates), a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, gained 30 cents to $53.90 in pre-market trading following the earnings report, on top of the $1.72 rise in regular-hours trading Monday.