Johnson & Johnson
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The business itself carries and is well documented: $94,193M of sales with 6.0 percent growth in both segments, a 67.9 percent gross margin, $24,530M of operating cash flow, $81,544M of equity, 33.6 times interest coverage and $20.8B of liquidity at June 28, 2026. There is no going-concern warning, no negative equity, no accounting or governance breach, and the concentration on three wholesalers is a distribution channel rather than existential dependence on a single counterparty. Two material operating questions are nevertheless open and together justify the more cautious grade. First the talc resolution: the $5.5B commitment of July 27, 2026 is expressly conditioned on participation of at least 95 percent of the remaining claims — if that is missed, roughly 76,000 individual cases are back on the calendar, and the reserve of $3.7B already sits roughly $1.8B below the commitment. Three dismissed Chapter 11 proceedings show that four years of attempted solutions settled nothing. Second the patent cliff: STELARA lost $4,283M of sales in a single year, the company expects further biosimilar launches, and it names generic competition for OPSUMIT and biosimilar filings for SIMPONI for 2026. In fiscal 2025 the replacement was enough — that is proof the pipeline works, but not proof for the next wave. Separately there is the price question: at roughly 31 times trailing earnings and 7.9 times book value, near the top of its yearly range, the stock is paid for like a growth name rather than a dividend holding. That is a valuation argument, not a quality argument, and it does not change the rating. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Johnson & Johnson grew roughly 6 percent in both segments in fiscal 2025, to $94,193M of sales, and pulled $24,530M out of operations — the operating picture is as calm as 63 years of dividend increases suggest. The reported earnings line is not: talc entries of minus $7.0B (2023), minus $5.1B (2024) and plus $7.0B (2025) pulled it in three different directions; without them earnings come to $18,786M, $18,044M and $21,344M. On July 27, 2026 the company announced a comprehensive resolution carrying a $5.5B commitment, against a reserve of $3.7B and conditioned on 95 percent participation. Not investment advice.
Operating performance
Both segments grew at almost the same pace in fiscal 2025: Innovative Medicine up 6.0 percent to $60,401M, MedTech up 6.1 percent to $33,792M. The group gain of 6.0 percent came from 8.4 percent more volume at 3.1 percent lower prices. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026 sales were 6.6 percent above the prior year.
Balance sheet and liquidity
At December 28, 2025 equity of $81,544M stood against $47.9B of total debt; interest expense of $971M was covered 33.6 times by pre-tax earnings of $32,581M. At June 28, 2026 the company held $20.8B in cash and marketable securities, with net debt of $28.2B. No risk to the substance of the business is apparent.
Earnings quality
Reported net earnings from continuing operations ran from $13,326M (2023) through $14,066M (2024) to $26,804M (2025) — driven by talc entries of minus $7.0B, minus $5.1B and plus $7.0B. Without them the figures would have been $18,786M, $18,044M and $21,344M (our own calculation, 22 percent tax rate per the company). The auditor treats the topic as a critical audit matter.
Talc litigation
Roughly 76,000 U.S. plaintiffs at June 28, 2026, up from 74,360 at December 28, 2025. The reserve of $3.7B in present value sits roughly $1.8B below the $5.5B commitment announced July 27, 2026, which is itself conditioned on participation of at least 95 percent of the remaining claims. Three Chapter 11 proceedings of subsidiaries were dismissed between 2021 and 2025.
Patent cliff and replacement
STELARA fell $4,283M to $6,078M in fiscal 2025, down 41.3 percent, fully offset by TREMFYA (up $1,485M) and DARZALEX (up $2,681M). The next wave is named in the 10-K: generic competition for OPSUMIT from 2026 ($2,325M of sales), biosimilar filings for SIMPONI ($2,668M). Research and development ran at $14,665M, or 15.6 percent of sales.
Balance sheet structure and acquisitions
Goodwill ($48,772M) and intangible assets ($50,403M) come to $99,175M — 49.8 percent of total assets and 121.6 percent of equity. Fiscal 2025 saw $17,541M spent on acquisitions (Intra-Cellular roughly $14.5B), funded in part with $9.2B of new notes; net debt rose from $12.1B to $27.8B. Ongoing intangible amortization runs at $4.6B a year.
Worth Noting
Origin: stocktaking of the 100 largest U.S. stocks by market value dated July 28, 2026. Johnson & Johnson ranked 17th and had no analysis. Not a scanner hit.
Data as of: quarterly report 10-Q for the quarter ended June 28, 2026 (filed July 23, 2026), annual reports 10-K for fiscal 2025 and 2024, earnings release on Form 8-K of July 15, 2026 and the Form 8-K of July 28, 2026 (Item 7.01). Fundamental data as of July 29, 2026.
Fiscal year: 52/53 weeks, ending on the Sunday nearest December 31. Fiscal 2023, 2024 and 2025 each had 52 weeks and are comparable with one another; fiscal 2026 has 53 weeks per the company — roughly 1.9 percent of additional shipping days in a year-over-year comparison.
Basis of the series: sales and earnings are shown throughout as continuing operations, excluding Kenvue, for every year. The 2023 total of $35,153M includes $21,827M from the discontinued operation, of which a book gain of $20,984M on the Kenvue exchange offer, and does not belong in the series. The 2023 cash flow statement was not recast per the footnote and still contains Kenvue — cash flow and capital spending are therefore compared for 2024 and 2025 only.
The adjustment of earnings for the talc item is this publication's own calculation, not a company metric. It uses the roughly 22 percent U.S. federal and state rate the company names in Note 8.
The 25-NSE filings from 2019, 2022 and 2024 relate to matured notes rather than the common stock, and the 2019 Form 15-15D likewise does not concern the common stock. The shares continue to trade on the NYSE — no delisting signal.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 29, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at JNJ since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 174.20 $ to 278.40 $ · Last price: 270.20 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Drug Manufacturers - General
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson JNJ | 629.2 | 33.1 | 19.7 | 68.1 | 27.4 | 6.1 | 56.0 |
| Eli Lilly and Company LLY | 1,027.6 | 44.4 | 24.9 | 83.4 | 49.4 | 44.7 | 52.6 |
| AbbVie Inc ABBV | 460.3 | 137.7 | 26.6 | 72.8 | 32.2 | 8.6 | 23.3 |
| Merck & Company Inc MRK | 351.0 | 43.5 | 27.9 | 75.9 | 38.6 | 1.2 | 86.7 |
| Amgen Inc AMGN | 203.6 | 27.0 | 14.0 | 71.9 | 33.8 | 9.9 | 42.1 |
| Novo Nordisk A/S NVO | 187.9 | 10.6 | 9.7 | 82.0 | 42.5 | 6.4 | -23.4 |
| Gilead Sciences Inc GILD | 187.1 | 21.1 | 111.6 | 79.6 | 39.3 | 2.4 | 37.7 |
| Pfizer Inc PFE | 162.4 | 22.2 | 15.5 | 74.7 | 31.6 | -1.7 | 23.0 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY | 129.7 | 17.9 | 9.8 | 71.7 | 33.0 | -0.2 | 42.7 |
| Median of companies shown | 203.6 | 27.0 | 19.7 | 74.7 | 33.8 | 6.1 | 42.1 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 71,890 | 20,891 | 16,540 | 5.93 | 18,767 | 70,418 | 141,208 |
| 2017 | 76,450 | 18,897 | 1,300 | 0.47 | 21,056 | 60,160 | 157,303 |
| 2018 | 81,581 | 21,175 | 15,297 | 5.61 | 22,201 | 59,752 | 152,954 |
| 2019 | 82,059 | 20,970 | 15,119 | 5.63 | 23,416 | 59,471 | 157,728 |
| 2020 | 82,584 | 19,733 | 14,714 | 5.51 | 23,536 | 63,278 | 174,894 |
| 2021 | 78,740 | 20,943 | 20,878 | 7.81 | 23,410 | 74,023 | 182,018 |
| 2022 | 79,990 | 21,013 | 17,941 | 6.73 | 21,194 | 76,804 | 187,378 |
| 2023 | 85,159 | 21,853 | 35,153 | 13.73 | 22,791 | 68,774 | 167,558 |
| 2024 | 88,821 | 22,149 | 14,066 | 5.79 | 24,266 | 71,490 | 180,104 |
| 2025 | 94,193 | 25,596 | 26,804 | 11.03 | 24,530 | 81,544 | 199,210 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 1.41 | -15.10 | 22,520 | 5.30 | 15.20 | 6,983 | 4,838 |
| 2025: Q1 | 4.54 | 238.80 | 21,893 | 2.40 | 50.20 | 4,174 | 3,379 |
| 2025: Q2 | 2.29 | 18.30 | 23,743 | 5.80 | 23.30 | 3,878 | 2,480 |
| 2025: Q3 | 2.12 | 91.20 | 23,993 | 6.80 | 21.50 | 9,169 | 8,381 |
| 2025: Q4 | 2.10 | 48.40 | 24,564 | 9.10 | 20.80 | 7,309 | 5,472 |
| 2026: Q1 | 2.14 | -52.80 | 24,062 | 9.90 | 21.80 | 2,514 | 1,465 |
| 2026: Q2 | 2.27 | -0.90 | 25,310 | 6.60 | 21.90 | 8,616 | 7,295 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 3 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Aktien.Guide
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 11.08 | 11.02 – 11.17 | 101,285 | 2.7% | 5 |
| 12/31/2027 | 12.45 | 11.30 – 13.47 | 109,071 | 12.4% | 5 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 14.8% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $18.71B |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $629.24B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $74.23B |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 62.2% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow shrank by 0.5% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Die Geschäftsberichte belegen den operativen Einsatz von Datenwissenschaft, maschinellem Lernen und weiteren KI-Formen in verschiedenen Teilen des Geschäfts und der Betriebsabläufe; eine KI-Umsatzquelle wird in keinem der sechs ausgewerteten Filings genannt.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„The Company leverages the use of data science, machine learning and other forms of AI and emerging technologies across varying parts of its business and operations, and the introduction and incorporation of AI may result in unintended consequences or other new or expanded risks and liabilities."
Das Unternehmen nutzt Datenwissenschaft, maschinelles Lernen und andere Formen von KI sowie neu entstehende Technologien in verschiedenen Teilen seines Geschäfts und seiner Betriebsabläufe; die Einführung und Einbindung von KI kann zu unbeabsichtigten Folgen oder anderen neuen oder erweiterten Risiken und Haftungen führen.
10-K · 2026-02-11 · View SEC filing
„AI technology is continuously evolving, and the AI technologies we develop and adopt may become obsolete earlier than planned."
Die KI-Technologie entwickelt sich fortlaufend weiter, und die von uns entwickelten und eingesetzten KI-Technologien können früher als geplant veralten.
10-K · 2026-02-11 · View SEC filing
„Also, increasing use of AI could increase these risks."
Außerdem könnte die zunehmende Nutzung von KI diese Risiken erhöhen.
10-K · 2025-02-13 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-07-23 · 10-Q 2026-04-22 · 10-Q 2025-10-22 · 10-Q 2025-07-24 · 10-K 2026-02-11 · 10-K 2025-02-13
Rated on July 30, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 5.6%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 6.7%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -3.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 27.0%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 67.9%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 24.5%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 0.7 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years -4,436 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 17.6%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 0.1%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
6/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 3.0%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 7.6%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 2.3%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 6.2%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 1.1x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 9.5%
- Return on equity > 15% –
- ROCE > 15% 17.6%
- Expected return > 10% 9.6%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2026 | Schmid Timothy | EVP, WW Chair, MedTech | Sell | 22,527 | 274.74 | 6,189,068 |
| Sep 2, 2026 | Schmid Timothy | EVP, WW Chair, MedTech | Other | 22,527 | 151.41 | 3,410,813 |
| Sep 2, 2026 | Schmid Timothy | EVP, WW Chair, MedTech | Sell | 11,070 | 274.74 | 3,041,372 |
| Sep 2, 2026 | Schmid Timothy | EVP, WW Chair, MedTech | Other | 11,070 | 131.94 | 1,460,576 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | Taubert Jennifer L | EVP, WWC. Innovative Medicine | Sell | 15,000 | 263.36 | 3,950,400 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | Taubert Jennifer L | EVP, WWC. Innovative Medicine | Other | 15,000 | 115.67 | 1,735,050 |
| Aug 13, 2026 | Duato Joaquin | CEO and Chairman of the Board | Sell | 102,315 | 261.00 | 26,704,215 |
| Aug 13, 2026 | Duato Joaquin | CEO and Chairman of the Board | Sell | 20,976 | 262.00 | 5,495,712 |
| Aug 13, 2026 | Duato Joaquin | CEO and Chairman of the Board | Other | 123,291 | 115.67 | 14,261,070 |
| Aug 6, 2026 | Forminard Elizabeth | EVP, Chief Legal Officer | Sell | 6,574 | 255.93 | 1,682,497 |
The company
About the Company
Johnson & Johnson erforscht, entwickelt, fertigt und vertreibt mit seinen Tochtergesellschaften weltweit eine Reihe von Produkten im Gesundheitsbereich. Es ist in zwei Segmenten tätig: Innovative Medicine und MedTech.
- Employees
- 138,200
- Headquarters
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Address
- One Johnson & Johnson Plaza, 08933 New Brunswick, United States
- Phone
- 732 524 0400
- Website
- jnj.com
- IPO Date
- 09/24/1944
- ISIN
- US4781601046
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 06/13/2001
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 06/12/1996
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 06/10/1992
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Joaquin Duato | CEO & Chairman | 1963 |
| Joseph James Wolk CPA | Executive VP & CFO | 1967 |
| John C. Reed M.D., Ph.D. | Executive Vice President of Innovative Medicine and R&D | 1958 |
| Timothy Schmid | Executive VP & Worldwide Chairman of MedTech | 1970 |
| Robert J. Decker Jr. | Controller & Chief Accounting Officer | 1973 |
| James Swanson | Executive VP & Chief Information Officer | 1966 |
| Ryan Koors | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Dirk Brinckman | Chief Compliance Officer | – |
| Elizabeth Forminard J.D. | Executive VP & Chief Legal Officer | 1971 |
| Kristen Blair Mulholland | Executive VP & Chief HR Officer | 1967 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/04/2026 JOHNSON & JOHNSON (JNJ): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/29/2026 JOHNSON & JOHNSON (JNJ): Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/28/2026 JOHNSON & JOHNSON (JNJ): Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/15/2026 JOHNSON & JOHNSON (JNJ): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.