Johnson & Johnson sold more than ever: revenue was $25.4bn in the third quarter of 2026. But the growth rate slipped, the stock lagged its rivals in the same window, and its P/E is the lowest in the group.
A record quarter, at a slower pace
Johnson & Johnson sold more in this quarter A three-month slice of a company's financial year. Big firms report results four times a year, once per quarter. than in any quarter before it. Revenue The money a company takes in from selling its products, counted before any costs are taken out. was $25.4bn in the third quarter of 2026. That is 5.9% more than the same quarter a year earlier.
Glossary
- Revenue
- The money a company takes in from selling its products, counted before any costs are taken out.
- quarter
- A three-month slice of a company's financial year. Big firms report results four times a year, once per quarter.
Data table
| period | revenue | yoy |
|---|---|---|
| 2023Q4 | $21.4bn | 7.3% |
| 2024Q1 | $21.4bn | 2.3% |
| 2024Q2 | $22.4bn | 4.3% |
| 2024Q3 | $22.5bn | 5.2% |
| 2024Q4 | $22.5bn | 5.3% |
| 2025Q1 | $21.9bn | 2.4% |
| 2025Q2 | $23.7bn | 5.8% |
| 2025Q3 | $24.0bn | 6.8% |
| 2025Q4 | $24.6bn | 9.1% |
| 2026Q1 | $24.1bn | 9.9% |
| 2026Q2 | $25.3bn | 6.6% |
| 2026Q3 | $25.4bn | 5.9% |
Here is the part a headline misses. In the quarter just before, growth against the year before was 6.6%. So the record arrived with a slower pace behind it. Measured against that previous quarter, revenue grew 0.4%, which is close to flat.
How fast do you think Johnson & Johnson's sales grew against the same quarter a year earlier?
Actual5.9%
Growth was 5.9%. For a company this size that is healthy, and it still surprises people who only read the word record: a record quarter and a slower growth rate can happen at the same time.
Show answer
5.9% Growth was 5.9%. For a company this size that is healthy, and it still surprises people who only read the word record: a record quarter and a slower growth rate can happen at the same time.
Step back and the picture is calmer. Over the three years to the third quarter of 2026, revenue grew 6.0% a year. The figures in this section run through 2026Q3, the last quarter in the data. Net income and adjusted earnings per share, the split between the Innovative Medicine and MedTech units, and any one-off item behind the profit change are all absent from the evidence for this note, so the sales lines are what we can check here.
The shares trailed the rivals in the same window
Now the share price. We line Johnson & Johnson up against a basket of 4 big drug makers: Pfizer, Merck & Co., AbbVie and Eli Lilly. On the day the results came out, the stock did 4.2% worse than that basket.
Data table
| day | series | value | series_role |
|---|---|---|---|
| -5 | Johnson & Johnson | 0.7% | target |
| -4 | Johnson & Johnson | 2.2% | target |
| -3 | Johnson & Johnson | 1.4% | target |
| -2 | Johnson & Johnson | 3.4% | target |
| -1 | Johnson & Johnson | 4.3% | target |
| 0 | Johnson & Johnson | -1.7% | target |
| 1 | Johnson & Johnson | 0.4% | target |
| 2 | Johnson & Johnson | 0.1% | target |
| 3 | Johnson & Johnson | 1.0% | target |
| 4 | Johnson & Johnson | 0.3% | target |
| 5 | Johnson & Johnson | 2.5% | target |
| -5 | Peer basket | 0.9% | peer |
| -4 | Peer basket | 2.6% | peer |
| -3 | Peer basket | 2.1% | peer |
| -2 | Peer basket | 3.7% | peer |
| -1 | Peer basket | 4.3% | peer |
| 0 | Peer basket | 2.6% | peer |
| 1 | Peer basket | 6.2% | peer |
| 2 | Peer basket | 7.1% | peer |
| 3 | Peer basket | 7.6% | peer |
| 4 | Peer basket | 6.5% | peer |
| 5 | Peer basket | 9.5% | peer |
| -5 | Cumulative abnormal return | -0.2% | neutral |
| -4 | Cumulative abnormal return | -0.5% | neutral |
| -3 | Cumulative abnormal return | -0.7% | neutral |
| -2 | Cumulative abnormal return | -0.3% | neutral |
| -1 | Cumulative abnormal return | -0.0% | neutral |
| 0 | Cumulative abnormal return | -4.2% | neutral |
| 1 | Cumulative abnormal return | -5.5% | neutral |
| 2 | Cumulative abnormal return | -6.6% | neutral |
| 3 | Cumulative abnormal return | -6.2% | neutral |
| 4 | Cumulative abnormal return | -5.8% | neutral |
| 5 | Cumulative abnormal return | -6.4% | neutral |
The gap did not close quickly. Over the 6 trading days from announcement day, Johnson & Johnson came in 6.4% behind the basket. In the days before the release the gap was -0.0%, meaning the two had been moving together. All of this sits in the same window as the news; the chart puts the company and its rivals side by side, and it cannot show a cause.
Both lines ended the window above where they started. The basket just ended further above. Price data here runs to 23 October 2026.
Cheapest of the five on earnings
After the move, Johnson & Johnson traded at a P/E The share price divided by the profit per share. It is a rough answer to the question: how many years of current profit am I paying for? of 39.5x. Among the 4 peers with an earnings figure, the peer median The middle value among similar companies. Half sit above it and half below, so one odd company does not drag the number around. P/E was 61.6x.
Glossary
- P/E
- The share price divided by the profit per share. It is a rough answer to the question: how many years of current profit am I paying for?
- peer median
- The middle value among similar companies. Half sit above it and half below, so one odd company does not drag the number around.
That leaves the stock 35.9% below the peer median. A low P/E is not a bargain on its own. My reading is that the market pays up for the faster-growing names in this group, and Johnson & Johnson is not the fastest grower among them.
Risks
- One-off items can swell or shrink a single quarter's profit, so one quarter is a weak guide.
- The peer basket holds only four companies, which may be too small for the comparison to mean much.
- Currency moves can distort a year-on-year sales comparison in either direction.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR XBRL companyfacts, Johnson & Johnson — data as of 2026-09-27; fetched 2026-10-24 17:52 UTC
- FinMind USStockPrice ABBV — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 17:52 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice LLY — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 17:52 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice JNJ — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 17:52 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice MRK — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 17:52 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice PFE — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 17:52 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges