Investors can expect to see a lot of financial results in the next few weeks, as corporate America starts to ramp up for third-quarter earnings season. Already, market participants have had a chance to respond to the latest results from some of the biggest banking institutions in the country, and now the focus will shift to other segments of the economy.
One company that a lot of market participants wanted to look at closely was Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.14%), as the healthcare giant offers a pulse on what's becoming an increasingly important sector of the market. Yet even though J&J's share price moved slightly lower on its latest financial report, the decline paled in comparison to what shareholders in VMware (VMW +0.00%) had to endure Tuesday morning. Here are all the details.
Johnson & Johnson looks healthy
Shares of Johnson & Johnson were down almost 1% Tuesday morning. Yet even though some shareholders apparently didn't like the healthcare company's results from the third quarter, there were plenty of good things to see in the report.
Johnson & Johnson's headline numbers showed modest performance. Total revenue of $21.35 billion was up almost 7% year over year, and while net income was flat at $4.31 billion, a decline in the number of shares outstanding pushed earnings up 4% from year-ago levels to $1.69 per share.
However, it's important to understand that Johnson & Johnson looks a lot different than it did a year ago. In particular, J&J spun off its consumer health division. Therefore, the company provided adjusted figures that showed adjusted operational sales rising nearly 5% and adjusted net income soaring more than 14% from a year ago. That produced adjusted earnings of $2.66 per share, up 19% year over year.
NYSE: JNJ
Key Data Points
Johnson & Johnson reported double-digit sales growth in the U.S., offsetting relatively weak performance oversees. The company's medical technology segment had sharper growth in sales than the core pharmaceuticals division, now dubbed "innovative medicine," but both segments showed signs of promise.
In addition, J&J now expects its full-year 2023 profits to be higher than expected. With strong demand for key treatments to fight cancer, Johnson & Johnson has investors excited about the traction that its plentiful pipelines of current drugs and candidate treatments in clinical trials are gaining.
Is VMware's deal in jeopardy?
Shares of VMware dropped 9% just after the beginning of the regular trading session on Tuesday morning. Waiting anxiously for an anticipated acquisition by Broadcom, investors are hypersensitive to any suggestion that the deal might not get done.
The decline in VMware's stock stemmed from reports suggesting that the Chinese government might raise issues in its review of the proposed merger. The prospects for any further delay in closing the acquisition obviously aren't ideal for shareholders in either company.
NYSE: VMW
Key Data Points
For Broadcom, the VMware acquisition aims to diversify what has historically been a largely hardware-focused business into software. The complementary nature of Broadcom's semiconductor chip business and VMware's cloud computing virtualization software could make the combined entity a force to be reckoned with, particularly as potential customers ramp up their efforts to compete in the artificial intelligence realm.
VMware's stock has been volatile for a while, and this isn't the first potential hiccup that investors have worried about. Unfortunately, shareholders will have to wait to see how things play out as various regulators weigh in on the merger.
