Johnson & Johnson Vows to Fight Judge’s Order During Earnings Call

Johnson & Johnson reported second quarter results this week and said that it would fight a court order it received last week.

Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a judge to pay a record $4.69 billion to women who said the company’s talc-based products had asbestos and caused cancer.

J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said on a call with analysts, “We are confident that there are multiple grounds for reversal of this jury verdict and that, ultimately, the case will be reversed.”

Gorsky has stated that the company’s products do not contain asbestos or cause ovarian cancer.

For the second quarter the company reported pharmaceutical sales seeing a growth of 20%. A profit of $2.10 for the quarter was higher than the $2.07 that analysts had expected. Total sales saw a growth of 10.6 percent to $20.83 billion. Analysts had expected $20.39 billion.
Looking ahead, the company is expecting $8.07 to $8.17 a share for 2018 adjusted earnings.

Previously the company had projected $8.00 to $8.20.

Full-year sales forecast has been cut to $80.5 billion to $81.3 billion from $81.0 billion to $81.8 billion.

According to Damien Conover, an analyst with Morningstar, he expects the company to aggressively fight the lawsuits and “the final related payments will not cause a major impact to its valuation.”

The stock saw its biggest one day percentage climb in two years on the results and the news that the company would fight the order.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and have not been compensated for this article.