Guinness Global Innovators, an investment management company, recently released its Q1 2026 quarterly investor update for its “Guinness Global Equity Income Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Fund focuses on providing investors with global exposure to dividend-paying companies. In Q1 2026, the fund returned was -0.5% (GBP), compared to -1.6% for the MSCI World Index and 0.1% for the IA Global Equity Income sector average. The quarter saw notable changes in market sentiment driven by geopolitical tensions and energy market disruptions. The market shifted focus from growth sectors, particularly mega-cap technology and software, to value-oriented, defensive, international, and ‘physical economy’ stocks. The Fund gained from this transition towards defensive and value areas in the quarter. The letter discusses the impact of macro events and market dynamics on Q1 performance and examines software industry valuations amid rising concerns around AI-driven disruption. In addition, please check the Strategy’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Guinness Global Equity Income Fund highlighted stocks like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is a leading global healthcare company that engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of a range of products in the healthcare field. On June 11, 2026, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) closed at $238.33 per share. One-month return of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was 5.13%, and its shares gained 51.71% over the past 52 weeks. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has a market capitalization of $573.71 billion.
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund stated the following regarding Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the Fund’s top-performing stock in Q1 2026, rising 18.7% as markets gained confidence that the company has been effectively replacing revenues of Stelara, a drug that accounted for more than 10% of sales at its peak, but ‘loss of exclusivity’ led to numerous biosimilar launches in 2025. That confidence was fuelled by a very solid earnings print with which the firm reported full-year sales growth of 6%, despite a 7.5 percentage point headwind from Stelara’s loss of exclusivity. Organic sales growth accelerated significantly, rising from 3.7% in Q3 (and 2.4% in Q2) to 7.9% in Q4. Performance was broad-based, with strong momentum across a number of key drugs within the firm’s pharma division, with Tremfya (Crohn’s disease) and Darzalex (Myeloma) the stand-outs. Alone, these drugs were able to provide $4.2bn in sales growth, nearly fully offsetting the $4.3bn decline from Stelara. The remaining drugs in the pharma portfolio were able to grow another $3.6bn, a 6% contribution to the overall growth of the pharma division. MedTech was similarly encouraging, with sales ahead of consensus by 40 basis points and strength across Orthopaedics (recently spun out), Surgery, and Vision, supported by the firm’s recent Shockwave acquisition. Importantly, management reiterated solid 2026 guidance at 5.9% (at the mid-point), and reiterated confidence in achieving the upper end of its 5-7% long-term sales growth target, with a credible path to double-digit growth later in the decade, benefitting from the roll-off of patent cliff headwinds…” (Click here to read the full text)
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 57 hedge fund portfolios held Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) at the end of the first quarter, up from 56 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than JOHNSON & JOHNSON (NYSE:JNJ) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and shared a bullish thesis on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
