Barclays: Johnson & Johnson's Q3 Could Be 'High Water Mark'

Johnson & Johnson's JNJ new hepatitis C drug Olysio helped it beat third quarter Street views, but an analyst cautioned the product may have hit a high water mark.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD obtained approval this week for its competing Harvoni drug that Barclays' Mark Purcell said will soon dissipate Olysio revenue.

"The loss of Olysio sales looks to underscore the company's reliance on high-margin Pharma revenues for earnings," Purcell said in a note Wednesday.

Johnson & Johnson's consumer business fell 0.6 percent, while its medical device operations were nearly flat.

But most of the company's leading drug products face increasing competition, according to Purcell, who maintained an Equal-weight rating and $102 target.

Patents protect the company's Zytiga cancer drug through 2018, but it already faces stiff competition for its Invokana type 2 diabete treatment.

Meanwhile, Purcell sees emerging competitors for its Stelarapsoriasis treatment, as well as for its Invega schizophrenia drug and Procrit drug for kidney and cancer disease.