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The Johnson & Johnson logo on top of the company's office building in Diegem, Belgium
Photo: Reuters / Yves Herman (file photo)

Johnson & Johnson Stock Falls 5% Despite Q3 Earnings Beat

Johnson & Johnson2 min read5 sources

Why is Johnson & Johnson stock down today?

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stock fell 5% to about $250 on Tuesday after medical device sales grew only 2.5%, a slowdown that overshadowed an earnings beat and a raised 2026 outlook.

Key numbers

Total sales$25.4B+5.9% YoY
Adjusted EPS$2.59vs $2.53 expected
Pharma sales$16.8B+7.7% YoY
MedTech sales$8.6B+2.5% YoY
Reported net earnings$210M-96% YoY (talc charge)
2026 adjusted EPS outlook$11.05-$11.15from $10.96-$11.11

What happened

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stock fell 5% to about $250 on Tuesday after medical device sales grew only 2.5%, a slowdown that overshadowed an earnings beat and a raised 2026 outlook. Its drug business did well: sales rose 7.7% to $16.8 billion compared with a year ago, helped by cancer and psoriasis medicines. Total sales were $25.4 billion, up 5.9%, and profit per share excluding one-offs (adjusted EPS) was $2.59, both just above what analysts expected. But a $5.5 billion proposed talc lawsuit settlement cut reported profit by 96%.

Why it matters

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is one of the world's largest healthcare companies, and its stock had risen more than 27% this year before Tuesday's drop. The fall shows investors are watching the slower device business closely, not just strong drug sales, because heart-pump demand and some government health budgets are under pressure. Management still raised its 2026 sales forecast to about $101 billion, which would be the company's first year above $100 billion.

Who this affects

Marketneutral
Low impact
Broader market little changed; J&J shareholders bore the loss.
Companybearish
Medium impact
J&J shareholders lost about 5% despite beating forecasts.
Competitorsneutral
Low impact
Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Pfizer slipped less than 1%.
Industrybearish
Low impact
Medical device makers face closer scrutiny over slowing growth.

Johnson & Johnson vs Eli Lilly, Pfizer

Johnson & JohnsonJNJ$249.55-5%
Eli LillyLLY$1,174.46-0.7%
PfizerPFE$28.34-0.2%

As of 2026-10-13T15:48:00Z

How we got here

  1. J&J reports Q3 sales of $25.4B and raises its 2026 outlook

  2. Proposed $5.5B talc settlement cuts reported profit 96% to $210M

  3. Shares fall 5% to 6% from $263.73 prior close as MedTech lags

What to watch

  • Whether MedTech growth recovers from 2.5% in the next quarterly reportQ4 2026
  • Fourth-quarter sales needed to reach the $101.0-$101.4 billion full-year outlookQ4 2026
  • Any move to spin off part of the device business, which the CFO prefers to a saleOngoing

Educational content only. Not investment advice.

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