Johnson & Johnson is one of the health care names that showed up in President Donald Trump’s financial disclosures released earlier this year. Now a top J&J executive is heading the other direction.
The Insider Sale
EVP of Global Corporate Affairs Vanessa Broadhurst sold 23,054 shares on July 20, a transaction worth close to $5.8 million. That’s about 50% of her stake. The stock is up 27% so far this year. Bulls say the insider sale reflects some profit-taking and does not point to anything alarming. But let’s dig deeper.
The Pipeline Behind the Stock
J&J has spent the last few years reshaping itself. The 2023 spin-off of its consumer health unit and the more recent separation of its orthopedics business into DePuy Synthes were both moves to concentrate the company around higher-growth areas. Management guides to 6% operational sales growth for 2026, with the company targeting double-digit revenue growth by the end of the decade.
That growth leans on a deep pharma pipeline: Tremfya and Icotyde for psoriasis and Crohn’s disease, Spravato for treatment-resistant depression, Darzalex, Tecvayli and Talvey for multiple myeloma, and Rybrevant for lung cancer, plus the OTTAVA soft-tissue surgical robot working through FDA review. J&J is one of only two U.S. companies still carrying a AAA credit rating, and it generates roughly $20 billion in free cash flow a year, enough to fund both the dividend and continued reinvestment.
What the Last Quarter Actually Showed
Recent results back up some of that optimism. Revenue rose 6.6% YoY, with the oncology franchise up 17.3%, led by Darzalex, which grew close to 18% and stayed the company’s largest product. Carvykti grew 49.7%. Tremfya put up 72.5% growth and is taking share from rival treatments. Management raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance.
The Not-So-Clean Parts
It’s not all upside. Stelara, J&J’s older immunology blockbuster, fell YoY as biosimilar competition eats into sales, even though it still posted a 12.8% sequential bump. Imbruvica, a blood cancer drug, dropped 18.5% on competitive pressure from newer BTK inhibitors. Rybrevant and Lazcluze, J&J’s lung cancer combination, are growing far slower than the $5 billion-plus in 2030 peak sales J&J once projected for them.
Valuation is another factor. The stock trades at a forward P/E around 21-22x, roughly 10% above the sector median, while the dividend yield sits near 2.2%, low for what’s typically considered an income name. Investors are paying up for the growth story, not buying it cheap.
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund stated the following regarding Johnson & Johnson in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Johnson & Johnson 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… (Click here to read the full text)
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