Johnson & Johnson shares were affected by two significant developments. The company is preparing a potential sale of its DePuy Synthes orthopedics division, valued at over $20 billion, with private equity firms and medical device companies evaluating bids. This follows J&J's October announcement of plans to separate the slower-growing orthopedics unit within 18 to 24 months. DePuy Synthes generated $9.3 billion in sales last year. Separately, J&J halted recruitment in an Alzheimer's trial. On the positive side, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to J&J's cancer drug amivantamab and hyaluronidase-lpuj for advanced head and neck cancer treatment. Additionally, J&J announced a $1 billion investment in a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, expected to create 500 biomanufacturing jobs.
Read full analysisJohnson & Johnson shares were affected by two significant developments. The company is preparing a potential sale of its DePuy Synthes orthopedics division, valued at over $20 billion, with private equity firms and medical device companies evaluating bids. This follows J&J's October announcement of plans to separate the slower-growing orthopedics unit within 18 to 24 months. DePuy Synthes generated $9.3 billion in sales last year. Separately, J&J halted recruitment in an Alzheimer's trial. On the positive side, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to J&J's cancer drug amivantamab and hyaluronidase-lpuj for advanced head and neck cancer treatment. Additionally, J&J announced a $1 billion investment in a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, expected to create 500 biomanufacturing jobs.
Johnson & Johnson is one of the world's largest healthcare companies, operating across pharmaceuticals and medical devices with roughly $90 billion in annual revenue. The company has been on a strong run recently, driven by a Morgan Stanley upgrade to Overweight ($262 target), FDA breakthroughs for its RYBREVANT cancer franchise, and favorable Trump administration policy deals on drug pricing and tariffs. Today's focus is on the potential $20 billion-plus sale of its DePuy Synthes orthopedics unit, which introduces execution and valuation uncertainty around a business generating $9.3 billion in annual sales.