Report from J&J

J&J shares rose on Tuesday on the back of a financial report above Wall Street estimates, a dividend hike and the annual financial outlook. J&J reported that sales of its COVID-19 vaccines reached $100m. Investors are assessing the potential impact of J&J's vaccine suspension in the US.

Shares in Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which has shown a small rise of 7% over the past 12 months and 3.4% since the start of 2021, rose nearly 1% in early trading on Tuesday amid the release of first-quarter financial results.

Johnson & Johnson reported that its earnings per share rose 12.6% in the first three months of the year (compared with last year's figure) to $2.59.

J&J's total net income for the first quarter rose 6.9% to $6.2 billion.

The company's revenue rose 7.9% to $22.32 billion, also above average analyst expectations of $22.01 billion.

J&J's US sales rose 3.9% to $11.11bn, while international sales jumped 12.2% to $11.21bn.

Most of the sales growth came from J&J's medical devices and pharmaceuticals divisions: up 11% to $6.58bn and up 9.6% to $12.12bn respectively, as the company sold $100m worth of its COVID-19 vaccines and clinics renewed demand for medical devices.

J&J's worldwide consumer products (hygiene and beauty products) revenues fell 2.3% to $3.54bn, which the company attributed to contrasting comparisons with the same quarter last year, when pandemics and quarantine restrictions started and consumers massively inventoried its products.

Johnson & Johnson's annual forecasts

J&J expects annual earnings of $9.42 to $9.57 per share, up from the previous forecast of $9.40-$9.60 earnings per share. The annual earnings forecast rose from a range of $90.5bn to $91.7bn. $91.7bn to $90.6bn. $91.6bn, representing sales growth of about 9.3%.

In addition, J&J increased its quarterly dividend by $0.05 or almost 5% to $1.06 per share. J&J is known for increasing its dividend for 57 consecutive years, despite a series of crises over the years. That's why J&J stock is one of the top dividend stocks according to many investment companies.

In a separate press release on Tuesday, J&J said it had applied to the Indian regulatory authority for an additional local clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine.