BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: JOHNSON & JOHNSON

Johnson & Johnson Beats Profit Expectations, Lifts Forecast Following Latest Round of Price Hikes on Brand Name Products

This week, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson posted first-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations. The earnings follow the brand name drug company raising prices on more than 25 medications across its portfolio earlier this year. The Big Pharma company also raised its forecast for the year – expecting revenue to reach $100 billion. Johnson & Johnson has consistently topped earnings expectations for years, including in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 – while repeatedly hiking prices on brand name products and executing anti-competitive strategies to block and delay more affordable alternatives from reaching patients.

Get a full recap of Johnson & Johnson’s latest earnings here:

Johnson & Johnson

• Johnson & Johnson reported first quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.
• The Big Pharma company’s oncology drug, Darzalex, brought in just under $4 billion in sales during the first quarter.
• The company’s psoriasis drug, Tremfya, saw $1.6 billion in quarterly sales, beating estimates of $1.2 billion.
• Johnson & Johnson now expects to see full-year sales of more than $100 billion.

Johnson & Johnson’s bigtime profits follow an ongoing pattern of egregious pricing practices on top money-making brand name products:

Johnson & Johnson

• Johnson & Johnson has hiked prices on 27 prescription drugs so far in 2026, including a five percent increase on psoriasis drug Stelara.
• Johnson & Johnson hiked prices on 30 prescription drugs in 2025, including a 5.5 percent increase on multiple myeloma drug Darzalex and a 4.7 percent increase on psoriasis drug Stelara. 
• Johnson & Johnson engaged in 35 price hikes in 2024, including a 4.8 percent increase on Darzalex, and five percent increases on Erleada and Stelara.
• According to a December 2024 ICER report, price hikes that were unsupported by new clinical evidence on the multiple myeloma drug Darzalex led to additional consumer spending of $190 million.
• Johnson & Johnson also engaged in 36 price hikes in 2023, including a 4.5 percent increase on Darzalex, a five percent increase on Erleada and a 4 percent increase on Stelara.
• Spending on the company’s blockbuster cancer drug Imbruvica is expected to exceed $41 billion between 2027 and 2036, thanks to an anti-competitive patent scheme that extended a monopoly on the high-priced cancer drug by more than nine years. Imbruvica costs an eye-popping $180,000 per year.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor first quarter earnings calls from brand name drug companies in the coming weeks.

Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.