J&J MedTech Sales Rise 4.5% as Cardiovascular Falls Short in Q2

Johnson & Johnson's MedTech segment posted second-quarter sales of $8.93 billion, up 4.5% from a year earlier, while its cardiovascular business grew more slowly than the company expected, J&J reported on July 15. The company raised its full-year sales and adjusted earnings guidance on the strength of the overall quarter.

Company-wide reported sales rose 6.6% to $25.31 billion. Innovative Medicine, J&J's pharmaceutical segment, grew 7.8% to $16.38 billion. Net earnings were $5.53 billion, roughly flat, and diluted earnings per share were $2.27; adjusted EPS, a non-GAAP measure, was $2.90.

MedTech growth slows in cardiovascular

MedTech operational sales, which exclude currency effects, grew 3.6%. J&J said growth was driven mainly by wound closure and biosurgery products in Surgery, electrophysiology and Shockwave in Cardiovascular, contact lenses in Vision, and trauma in Orthopaedics.

The cardiovascular unit grew 4% to $2.4 billion, compared with 13% growth in the first quarter, MedTech Dive reported. Surgery sales were $2.65 billion, Orthopedics $2.42 billion and Vision $1.45 billion, according to the publication.

"Let me first acknowledge that our Q2 growth is not where you wanted it, and frankly, it's not where we wanted it," Tim Schmid, J&J's worldwide chairman of medtech, told investors on the earnings call, as quoted by MedTech Dive.

Within cardiovascular, Shockwave grew 14.6% and electrophysiology 4.4%, while Abiomed sales fell 2% to $440 million, the publication reported. Schmid attributed the Abiomed decline to slower procedure volumes after a U.K. trial, CHIP-BCIS3, produced results that were not favorable for the Impella heart pump. "It's really driven by physician caution as they really interpret this new data, rather than anything structural," he said.

Schmid said J&J expects Abiomed's performance in the second half of the year to be stronger than the first, with gradual improvement, and that the company is awaiting results from its PROTECT IV study, expected in 2027, according to MedTech Dive.

Guidance raised

J&J raised its estimated 2026 reported sales range to $100.8 billion to $101.4 billion, from $100.3 billion to $101.3 billion in April, a midpoint of $101.1 billion. It raised adjusted EPS guidance by 13 cents to a midpoint of $11.68. The company does not give GAAP guidance.

"With raised guidance and quarterly sales surpassing $25 billion, we are on track to meet our 2026 target of more than $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time in our Company's 140-year history," Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato said in the release.

Among MedTech product news in the quarter, J&J listed the approval of its Dual Energy THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH SF ablation platform and data from its OTTAVA surgical robot in upper abdominal procedures. The release's forward-looking statements also reference the company's planned separation of its Orthopaedics business.