Johnson & Johnson Earnings Preview
January 24, 2012 4:40 AM
Dow component Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ0 reports fourth-quarter earnings before the bell today and analysts are expecting a profit of $1.10 on revenue of $16.28 billion. Current EPS estimates range from $1.04 to $1.12 while revenue estimates range from $16.03 billion to $16.54 billion. The company forecast a full year 2011 profit of $4.95 to $5 a share while analysts expect $4.96.
Investors will be looking for updates on recently FDA-approved drugs Xarelto, Empira, and Empire NC RX PTCA. The company also received positive clinical results from Phase 2 Sirkumab study and a phase 3 Atlas trial for Xarelto, FlyOnTheWall reported.
Analysts expect JNJ to earn $5.22 a share on revenue of $68 billion this year, though some analysts have said JNJ's own forecasts may prove too ambitious and may need to be lowered. JNJ has beaten Wall Street estimates in the past three quarters and met the consensus estimate in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Unless JNJ delivers a big surprise in either direction, don't expect much action out of this low beta stock. At 12.5 times forward earnings, JNJ is less than 3% below its 52-week high.
The dividend: JNJ currently yields 3.5% and the company has raised its dividend 49 straight years. We expect it will do so again this year, but that the increase will come in April per usual, not with today's earnings report.
