Updated at 7:16 AM EST

Johnson & Johnson  (JNJ) – Get Free Report posted modestly better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday, while reiterating its full-year profit forecast, thanks to solid sales for its psoriasis and cancer therapies.

Adjusted earnings for the three months ended in December were $2.29 a share, down 2.6% from the same period in 2022 but a penny ahead of the Wall Street consensus forecast. 

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Group revenue, Johnson & Johnson said, slipped 9.7% to $21.4 billion, exceeding analysts’ estimates of a $21 billion tally.

Pharmaceutical sales were up 5.4% to $13.72 billion while Medtech sales jumped 13% to $7.67 billion. Consumer health sales were spun off to Kenvue, the group’s stand-alone entity, in early 2023.

Johnson & Johnson reiterated that 2024 earnings should come in around $10.55 to $10.75 a share. Operational sales are expected to rise 5% to 6%, suggesting a tally between $88.2 billion and $89 billion. The new figures exclude the impact of Kenvue.

J&J CEO: Entering ’24 in ‘position of strength’

“Johnson & Johnson’s full-year 2023 results reflect the breadth and competitiveness of our business and our relentless focus on delivering for patients,” said CEO Joaquin Duato. “We have entered 2024 from a position of strength, and I am confident in our ability to lead the next wave of health innovation.” 

Johnson & Johnson shares were marked 0.23% lower in premarket trading immediately following the earnings release to indicate an opening bell price of $162.10 each, a move that would extend the stock’s six-month decline to around 5.3%.

Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson said it would pay $28 a share in cash for cancer-drug specialists Ambx Biopharma  (AMAM) – Get Free Report, a deal that values the La Jolla, Calif., biotech at around $2 billion.

Ambrx focuses on so-called antibody drug conjugates, which attack cancer cells from the outside without damaging healthy tissues in the rest of the body. 

The group has used its techniques to target breast cancer and prostate cancer in recent clinical trials and has won fast-track designation for its ARX517 prostate therapy from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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