Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Financial), one of Yacktman Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio)’s top 10 holdings, rose slightly above the flatline on Wednesday after reporting second-quarter earnings that topped consensus estimates.
For the quarter ending June 30, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company reported net income of $6.278 billion, or $2.35 in earnings per share, compared with net income of $3.626 billion, or $1.36 in earnings per share, in the prior-year quarter.
Company updates Covid-19 vaccine revenue guidance as cases surge around the globe
Johnson & Johnson said that it expects full-year sales of its single-shot Covid-19 vaccine to reach approximately $2.5 billion, with more than half of the expected revenue taking place during the fourth quarter. Pharmaceutical Chairman Jennifer Taubert added that most of the company’s core businesses lines are recovering to “pre-Covid levels,” with strong growth in the U.S. and Europe.
The company’s earnings release came hours after World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the world is in the early stages of another wave of Coronavirus cases, further speaking to International Olympic Committee members in Tokyo regarding how the “global failure to share vaccines, tests and treatments” is fueling a “two-track pandemic.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this week that Coronavirus cases are increasing by a seven-day average of 30,000 per day, up from approximately 11,000 cases in June. Additionally, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that the delta variant makes up over 80% of all sequenced cases.
Stock rises slightly despite early tumble
Shares of Johnson & Johnson traded around $168.92 Wednesday morning despite initially tumbling to an intraday low of $167.56. The stock is fairly valued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.10.
GuruFocus ranks the company’s profitability 8 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a three-star business predictability rank and profit margins and returns outperforming more than 85% of global competitors.
Gurus with large holdings in Johnson & Johnson include Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) and Yacktman Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio). According to Top 10 Holdings statistics, a Premium feature of GuruFocus, Johnson & Johnson is Yacktman Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio)’s ninth-largest holding with a 3.78% equity portfolio weight.
Yacktman’s other top holdings include Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial), Alphabet Corp. (GOOG, Financial), PepsiCo Inc. (PEP, Financial) and Sysco Corp. (SYY, Financial).
