COVID-19 Cliff and Skyrocketing GLP-1 Drug Sales Highlight Q4 2023 Earnings

Of course, in any given quarter there’s the occasional surprise—both positive and negative—but it seems like companies are consistently beating Wall Street analysts’ earnings and revenue estimates, if only because companies have set low expectations for investors.

Case in point: Johnson & Johnson last month kicked off the fourth-quarter 2023 earnings season for the pharma sector with news that several products had outpaced projections. The standouts were immunosuppressive drug Stelara with $2.75 billion in sales, a 15.3% increase over Q3, cancer drug Darzalex with $2.55 billion, a 22.4% jump, and plaque psoriasis medicine Tremfya with $910 million, up 21%.