Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Some LiveBlogging: J&J's Q2 2010 Investor Webcast


I'll be listening at 8:30 AM EDT tomorrow, to see if anyone asks after the status of the pending Remicade®/Simponi® arbitration, with New Merck:




▲ Merck is now off $0.46, to $35.35, in the NASDAQ premarket trading.

JNJ's pharma product pricing pressures (in Europe, primarily) would seem to be a bad omen for Merck's Q2 call in ten days' time.

Q2 Remicade non-US sales grew approximately 20 percent (excluding inventory management initiatives); with inventory level adjustments, that growth was 4 percent. This is New Merck's share of the Centocor distribution agreement.

▲ The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has issued a grand jury subpoena to J&J, as a part of its ongoing investigation (both civil and criminal) of the recent recall woes.

▲ JNJ stock is off $0.96 (or 1.61%), in the NASDAQ premarket, on moderate volume.

▲ Johnson & Johnson's second-quarter earnings rose 7.5% on slightly higher sales, but the health-care products giant cut its full-year earnings forecast because of its recent recalls of over-the-counter medicines -- per WSJ.

▲ US Sales declined 2.8 percent in the quarter -- this doesn't bode well for Merck's Q2 US sales.

▲ JNJ Reports Q2 earnings of $1.21 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.21. . . .

▲ JNJ revenues rose 0.6% year/year to $15.33B vs the $15.64B consensus. . . .

JNJ lowers guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $4.65-4.75, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.81 Thomson Reuters consensus, down from $4.80-4.90 previously. "The guidance now reflects the impact of the voluntary recalls announced earlier this year of certain over-the-counter medicines and the suspension of manufacturing at the McNeil Consumer Healthcare facility in Fort Washington, Pa., as well as unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates." Q2 operational results increased 0.1% and the positive impact of currency was 0.5%. Domestic sales declined 2.8%, while international sales increased 4.1%, reflecting operational growth of 3.0% and a positive currency impact of 1.1%. . . .

▲ Check back on July 20, 2010 around 8:20 AM EDT. . .


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