NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported Tuesday that its third-quarter sales increased 10.7 percent to $23.3 billion, with operational growth of 9.9 percent (which excludes currency changes) and adjusted operational growth of 10.6 percent. The company cited “solid” sales performance across all of its divisions for leading the overall sales growth in the quarter. Net earnings totaled approximately $3.67 billion in the quarter, an increase of 3.2 percent compared with $3.55 billion in the year-ago period.

Looking ahead, Johnson & Johnson said it has revised its full-year reported sales guidance to a range of $91.6 billion to $92.1 billion, which would represent an increase of 10.9 percent to 11.5 percent. The previous full-year sales guidance for 2021 was in a range of $91.3 billion to $92.1 billion.
 
“Our third-quarter results demonstrate solid performance across Johnson & Johnson, driven by robust above-market results in pharmaceuticals, ongoing recovery in medical devices and strong growth in consumer health,” Alex Gorsky, chairman and chief executive officer, said in the announcement. “In the face of evolving marketplace dynamics resulting from the effects of COVID-19 and other global trends, we have continued to demonstrate the responsiveness and agility required to meet the needs of our stakeholders, while also successfully investing in a pipeline of innovation and key commercial platforms to drive our future growth.”
 
Gorsky added, “I am incredibly proud of our company’s transformative growth over the last decade. As I prepare to transition the role of CEO to Joaquin Duato in January, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our colleagues around the globe who work tirelessly to deliver solutions to address the world’s most urgent and unmet health care challenges.”
 
In the company’s medical devices business segment (which includes the contact lens business), worldwide operational sales, excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures, increased 7.6 percent, driven by electrophysiology products in interventional solutions, wound closure products in general surgery, and surgical vision products and contact lenses in the vision segment, among other product categories.
 
In the vision segment, U.S. sales rose 0.6 percent to $475 million in the third quarter, while international vision sales increased 17.4 percent to $714 million. Worldwide vision sales totaled $1.189 billion in the quarter, an increase of 10.1 percent on a reported basis.
 
Sales of contact lenses in the U.S. market declined 4.3 percent to $359 million from $375 million in the year-ago quarter, while international sales of contact lenses rose 14.9 percent to $522 million (from $455 million). On a worldwide basis, sales of contact lenses increased 6.2 percent to $882 million (from $830 million).
 
“As we enter the final quarter of the year, we remain committed to expanding the global reach of our COVID-19 vaccine, continuing differentiated levels of investment in a pipeline of life-enhancing innovation and advancing key commercial platforms to deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders,” said J&J’s Joe Wolk, executive vice president and chief financial officer.