JNJ's 64-year dividend streak and oncology momentum make it the steadier buy, while ABT's 18x forward P/E offers a cheaper turnaround entry.
Abbott's interest expense surged from $50 million to $299 million post-acquisition, and Cologuard must deliver durable margin expansion to justify the debt load.
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Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) both recently posted earnings that show two healthcare giants moving in opposite strategic directions.
JNJ is tightening its focus by spinning off Orthopaedics, while Abbott just closed a $21 billion Exact Sciences deal. The businesses behind these tickers look nothing alike right now.
JNJ's Q1 report leaned on its Innovative Medicine engine, with segment revenue of $15.43 billion, up 11.2%. DARZALEX brought in $3.96 billion (+22.5%), TREMFYA jumped 68.3%, and CARVYKTI kept scaling. That momentum is doing heavy lifting because STELARA collapsed 59.7% against biosimilars, a real drag that TREMFYA is fortunately absorbing.
Abbott's Q2 story is different. Medical Devices delivered $5.85 billion, up 9%, led by FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitors at $2.19 billion. Diagnostics surged 42.3% almost entirely because Cologuard from Exact Sciences contributed $919 million. Strip that out and comparable sales grew a more modest 4.8%, which is less flashy but more representative.
CEO Joaquin Duato framed JNJ's quarter as "a strong start to 2026", citing approvals for ICOTYDE and VARIPULSE Pro. Abbott CEO Robert Ford was more forward-looking, saying results "reflect the momentum we are building" heading into H2.
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Pharma innovation, cell therapy
Devices, glucose monitoring, cancer dx
Orthopaedics spin-off in 18 to 24 months
Closed $21B Exact Sciences deal
Nutrition weakness, CGM competition
JNJ is pruning. Abbott is stacking.
JNJ raised full-year revenue guidance to $100.3B to $101.3B and adjusted EPS to $11.45 to $11.65. Abbott lifted its EPS range to $5.45 to $5.60, though acquisition financing pushed interest expense to $299 million from $50 million. Digesting that debt is real work.
Source: Yahoo Finance Top News — This article was automatically imported from the source. Read full article at original source →
