Johnson & Johnson falls after quarterly report despite higher 2026 outlook

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is down 4.5% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The selloff appears tied to a sharp drop in reported profit in the third quarter, even though revenue, adjusted earnings, and full-year guidance all moved higher. Investors may also be focusing on the new litigation charge tied to the proposed talc resolution and softer-than-hoped performance in parts of the MedTech business, which likely diluted the impact of the headline beat.

Details:

Third-quarter sales rose 5.9% to $25.4 billion, while adjusted EPS was $2.59, and the company lifted its 2026 sales and adjusted EPS outlook.

Reported net earnings fell to $210 million and GAAP EPS dropped to $0.09, largely because of a one-time special charge linked to the proposed talc litigation resolution, the Firefly Bio acquisition, and the Sail Biomedicines collaboration.

Management highlighted that MedTech grew 2.5% operationally, but also acknowledged the segment fell short of internal expectations, with particular pressure in Cardiovascular and Surgery outside the United States.

This could also be because the guidance increase was modest relative to where expectations already stood, leaving limited room for upside after a strong year-to-date run in the shares.

Sources:

Johnson & Johnson Investor Relations, SEC, Reuters

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$JNJ Insider Trading Activity

$JNJ insiders have traded $JNJ stock on the open market 11 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 11 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $JNJ stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

JOAQUIN DUATO (CEO and Chairman of the Board) has made 0 purchases and 4 sales selling 171,771 shares for an estimated $44,714,937.
TIMOTHY SCHMID (EVP, WW Chair, MedTech) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 33,597 shares for an estimated $9,230,439.
VANESSA BROADHURST (EVP, Global Corp Affairs) sold 23,054 shares for an estimated $5,792,686
ELIZABETH FORMINARD (EVP, Chief Legal Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 15,918 shares for an estimated $4,090,959.
JENNIFER L TAUBERT (EVP, WWC. Innovative Medicine) sold 15,000 shares for an estimated $3,950,400
KATHRYN E WENGEL (EVP, Chief TO and Risk Officer) sold 10,000 shares for an estimated $2,411,500

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

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$JNJ Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 2,193 institutional investors add shares of $JNJ stock to their portfolio, and 1,987 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 58,301,609 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $14,806,859,637
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 19,126,165 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $4,857,472,125
GQG PARTNERS LLC removed 7,292,131 shares (-99.7%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,851,982,510
PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ added 6,505,745 shares (+39.4%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,652,264,057
DIAMANT ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC. removed 4,454,805 shares (-99.6%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,131,386,825
FISHER ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC added 4,043,445 shares (+43.6%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,026,913,726
CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS added 3,465,654 shares (+29.5%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $880,172,146

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$JNJ Government Contracts

We have seen $38,203,392 of award payments to $JNJ over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

4571008411!3.5 VOLT(TM) STRAIGHT PLATE 18H/L241MM: $371,238
4570981518!VA LOCKING HAND INSTRUMENT: $271,776
4571030678!MATRIXORTHOGNATHIC PLATING: $205,037
4571439483!FORCEPS PLATE HOLDING: $197,624

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard. You can access data on government contracts through the Quiver Quantitative API government contracts endpoint.

$JNJ Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $JNJ stock 7 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 2 have been purchases and 5 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $JNJ stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE LLOYD DOGGETT has traded it 2 times. They made 2 purchases worth up to $30,000 on 09/08, 06/09 and 0 sales.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS H. KEAN, JR. has traded it 3 times. They made 0 purchases and 3 sales worth up to $45,000 on 08/27, 06/29, 06/02.
SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN sold up to $15,000 on 08/20.
REPRESENTATIVE RICHARD MCCORMICK sold up to $15,000 on 07/30.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$JNJ Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $JNJ recently. We have seen 4 analysts offer price targets for $JNJ in the last 6 months, with a median target of $277.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Joanne Wuensch from Citigroup set a target price of $298.0 on 07/08/2026
Terence Flynn from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $284.0 on 07/08/2026
Vamil Divan from Guggenheim set a target price of $270.0 on 06/26/2026
David Risinger from Leerink Partners set a target price of $265.0 on 05/13/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.