Johnson & Johnson cuts profit forecast as it suspends guidance for Covid vaccine sales  

The future of vaccine sales has been a question mark among all makers of Covid shots as concern about the outbreak has waned in recent months.

Johnson & Johnson cut its annual profit forecast, citing currency exchange headwinds, and suspended guidance for Covid-19 vaccine sales even as first-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates.

Chief financial officer Joseph Wolk said the change was “exclusively” due to exchange rates that shaved $2.5bn (€2.3bn) off anticipated top-line growth for the year.

Sales for the quarter were $23.4bn, narrowly missing the average estimate. J&J maintained its operational profit and sales forecast and boosted its quarterly dividend to $1.13 a share from $1.06.

The future of vaccine sales has been a question mark among all makers of Covid shots as concern about the outbreak has waned in recent months. J&J’s immunisation is being sold on a not-for-profit basis, and analysts indicated they weren’t overly concerned about the suspension of guidance.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, Louise Chen, described first-quarter results as “mixed,” but said she was heartened by “strong performance across the enterprise, despite macro-economic headwinds”.

J&J’s vaccine sold $457m in the first quarter, while Wall Street analysts had estimated $784.7m.

Mr Wolk said last quarter that he expected 2022 sales of $3bn to $3.5bn for the shot, a figure that reflected contracts reached through January to supply under 1 billion doses this year, primarily to low- and middle-income countries.

Dropping the vaccine guidance was “not entirely surprising at this point of the pandemic,” said Larry Biegelsen, a Wells Fargo analyst, in a note to clients.

Slowing demand for coronavirus shots will have more significant consequences on J&J’s competitors, Pfizer and Moderna, which have staked much future growth on their Covid efforts. 

Bloomberg