Johnson & Johnson’s chief financial officer said the Middle East conflict has hurt the company’s sales in the region as national budgets shift toward defense. On Tuesday, the company reported third-quarter revenue of $25.4 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.59 per share, both above analysts’ estimates. International medical-device sales, though, faced pressure from the conflict, European austerity measures and pricing in China.
Budgets Shift Toward Defense
Joe Wolk said the conflict had driven fuel costs sharply higher at home and abroad, but hadn’t yet affected Johnson & Johnson’s own costs. It had hurt sales in the region, however. Wolk said the conflict, European austerity measures and pricing in China continued to weigh on international results, “but maybe in a little bit more pronounced way.”
“These are countries that still value and actually want premium healthcare systems, think Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia. They pride themselves on having solid healthcare, very good healthcare,” Wolk said. “But their budgets now are being resourced and allocated towards defense.”
The company’s medical technology division brought in $8.6 billion, up 2.5% overall. Sales outside the United States were basically flat. The figures show how the company’s businesses performed differently: pharmaceutical sales rose 7.7% to $16.76 billion, while the pressures Wolk described constrained international medical-device sales.
Growth in Pharmaceuticals
Tremfya, Johnson & Johnson’s immune disease treatment, helped lift profit. Sales climbed 68% to $2.4 billion, topping analyst estimates of about $2.19 billion. Recent approvals for Tremfya in inflammatory bowel diseases have increasingly helped replace revenue lost as generic competition hits Stelara.
Stelara sales fell 54% to $716 million amid that competition, but remained above Wall Street expectations of $591 million. Darzalex, the company’s blood cancer treatment, generated $4.24 billion in sales, an increase of about 16% that still fell short of analyst expectations of $4.4 billion.
Sales at Abiomed, the heart pump business, also remained slow. An earlier-in-2026 UK study raised questions about using Impella pumps during certain high-risk coronary procedures. The source report gave no further figures on the study’s effect on Abiomed sales.
Forecast Raised
Johnson & Johnson raised its full-year reported-sales forecast to about $101.2 billion at the midpoint, compared with $101.1 billion previously. It also lifted its adjusted-earnings forecast range, setting a new midpoint of $11.10 per share, up from $11.04.
Revenue of $25.4 billion exceeded analysts’ average estimate of $25.28 billion, according to LSEG data. Adjusted earnings of $2.59 per share beat Wall Street’s expectation of $2.54. Johnson & Johnson shares closed at $263.73 on Monday and had risen 27% this year, outperforming the broader market and most healthcare peers.
The quarter’s results put regional pressures alongside stronger pharmaceutical performance. Wolk tied weaker Middle East sales to defense allocations in countries he said value premium healthcare, while the report also identified European austerity measures and pricing in China as pressures on international medical-device sales.