With robust sales performance from oncology darling Darzalex and immunology superstar Tremfya, Johnson & Johnson is “off to a fast start in 2026,” CEO Joaquin Duato told investors on Tuesday.
Johnson & Johnson kicked off Q1 earnings with a “modest beat” and an audacious goal: to hit $100 billion in revenue in 2026.
J&J is “off to a fast start in 2026,” CEO Joaquin Duato said during an investor call to present the company’s first quarter results on Tuesday. “We are on track to meet our 2026 target of $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time.”
Indeed, J&J raised its full year 2026 revenue guidance to $100.8 billion, according to its earnings report.
Quarterly math puts the storied pharma almost on track to meet this target. In the first quarter, J&J made $24.1 billion, representing sales growth of 9.9% and operational growth of 6.4%. J&J is also projecting double digit growth by the end of the decade.
If achieved, a $100 billion year could extend J&J’s reign as the top pharmaceutical company by revenue. With a market cap of $585 billion, J&J is pharma’s second largest company—far behind Eli Lilly, which last year became the first pharma to enter the trillion-dollar market cap club. Notably, J&J also has a medtech unit and other segments beyond pharma.
J&J’s adjusted yearly sales growth of 5.3% exceeded RBC Capital Markets’ estimate of 5.2% but was slightly below consensus estimate of 5.4%.
“Overall, JNJ delivered a modest beat and raise driven by oncology and neuroscience in [innovative medicines], and improved commercial execution and innovation in MedTech,” the analysts wrote in a Tuesday morning note.
J&J’s $24.1 billion haul was also just above Guggenheim’s estimate of $24.03 billion, which said in a Tuesday note that the beat was “driven by higher sales from their Innovative Medicine segment.”
Oncology darling Darzalex, in particular, elicited just under $4 billion in sales during the first quarter, leading the Innovative Medicines segment, while immunology superstar Tremfya brought in around $1.6 billion worldwide.
Q1 Product Approvals
J&J currently has 28 programs or products, Duato told investors, calling the current pipeline the strongest in the company’s 140-year history.
Executives on the call emphasized the March approval of Protagonist-partnered Icotyde for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The FDA nod made Icotyde the first targeted anti-IL-23 therapy for this condition. “Icotyde has the potential to be one of our largest products ever,” Duato said during the call.
This claim would put Icotyde’s potential revenue at at least $10 billion, a Goldman Sachs analyst noted during the Q&A period. The drug is also in Phase 3 development for ulcerative colitis and Phase 2 trials for Crohn’s disease, setting up the potential for a pipeline-in-a-product type of asset.
Also in Q1, a combination of Darzalex Faspro plus Tecvayli scored approval for the second-line treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The duo netted the third nod under the FDA’s fledgling Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program after improving progression-free survival by 83%.
“When a treatment demonstrates outstanding trial results, we have a duty to patients to move swiftly,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in December 2025 when the agency granted the oncology tandem a proactive CNPV.
Also in immunology and inflammation, J&J executives highlighted the potential of co-antibody therapy JNJ-4804, an antibody combo designed to target both interleukin‑23 (IL-23) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). The novel molecule is currently in Phase 2 trials for ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis and Crohn’s disease.
J&J is also gearing up for a planned Enterprise Business Review on December 8, the company noted in its Tuesday earnings report—right around the time when that $100 billion objective will either be coming to fruition—or not.
“We expect investors to be generally comfortable with today’s announcements,” Guggenheim said Tuesday, “while the results also set the stage for greater potential upside ahead as the company’s topline and bottom line growth should accelerate as we go through the year and into the later part of the decade.”
