Johnson & Johnson Stock Today (JNJ): Price, Talc Verdicts, New Bladder Cancer Data and 2026 Outlook

Published: December 6, 2025 – For information only, not investment advice.

Johnson & Johnson stock (NYSE: JNJ) is ending the first week of December 2025 just below record territory after a powerful year-long rally, driven by a string of earnings beats, major acquisitions in neuroscience and oncology, and fresh clinical data in bladder cancer. At the same time, the company is absorbing huge jury verdicts in talc litigation and preparing to spin off its orthopaedics business, setting up a very different J&J for the second half of the decade. ^[1]

Below is a structured look at where Johnson & Johnson stock stands on December 6, 2025, and what the latest news, forecasts, and analyses suggest for 2026.

1. JNJ Stock Price Snapshot on 6 December 2025

As of the close on Friday, December 5, 2025, Johnson & Johnson shares finished around $201.9 per share, less than 3% below their recent 52‑week high near $207.8. Over the last 12 months, the stock is up roughly 35%, with some data providers putting its 2025 year‑to‑date gain close to 40%. TechStock²+1

Key current metrics for JNJ:

Share price: about $202 (Dec. 5 close) ^[2]
52‑week range: roughly $140.7 – $207.8 per share TechStock²+1
Market capitalization: approximately $480–490 billion ^[3]
Trailing P/E ratio: around 19–19.5×, in line with the broader pharma group ^[4]
Dividend yield: roughly 2.5–2.6%, based on an annual dividend of $5.20 per share ^[5]
Beta: around 0.35–0.40, meaning JNJ is less volatile than the broader market ^[6]

After two sluggish years marked by legal headlines and rising rates, JNJ has effectively “re‑rated” back into premium large‑cap territory: investors now treat it as a defensive growth compounder rather than a beaten‑down value stock.

2. Earnings Momentum: Three Beats and Higher 2025 Guidance

Q1 2025: Strong start and first guidance hike

In Q1 2025, Johnson & Johnson reported:

Revenue: $21.89 billion
Adjusted EPS: $2.77

Both revenue and earnings per share topped analyst expectations, prompting management to lift full‑year 2025 sales guidance to $91.0–$91.8 billion, up from $89.2–$90.0 billion, while reaffirming adjusted EPS of $10.50–$10.70. ^[7]

Q2 2025: Tariff headwind cut in half, outlook raised again

In Q2 2025, J&J delivered another beat:

Sales: $23.74 billion, up about 5.8% year over year
Adjusted EPS: $2.77, ahead of consensus

At the same time, the company cut its estimate of 2025 tariff costs roughly in half (to about $200 million) and raised its full‑year EPS and sales guidance again, to $10.80–$10.90 of adjusted EPS and $93.2–$93.6 billion in sales. Shares jumped almost 7% on the day. ^[8]

Q3 2025: Another beat and a third sales upgrade

On October 14, 2025, J&J posted Q3 2025 results that reinforced the trend: ^[9]

Worldwide sales: $23.99 billion, +6.8% reported year over year
GAAP EPS: $2.12, almost double the prior‑year quarter (helped by easier comparisons)
Adjusted EPS: $2.80, up about 15–16% and slightly above analysts’ expectations

Segment performance in Q3:

Innovative Medicine: around $15.6 billion in sales, up 6.8% reported; oncology drugs like DARZALEX, CARVYKTI and RYBREVANT, plus immunology leader TREMFYA and depression treatment SPRAVATO, helped offset the loss of exclusivity for STELARA. ^[10]
MedTech: about $8.4 billion, also up 6.8% reported, with growth in electrophysiology, cardiovascular devices (including Abiomed and Shockwave) and surgical vision. ^[11]

Management nudged full‑year 2025 reported sales guidance up again to $93.5–$93.9 billion (midpoint ~$93.7 billion) and reaffirmed adjusted EPS guidance of $10.80–$10.90. ^[12]

Takeaway: JNJ has beaten expectations in Q1, Q2 and Q3 while steadily raising its 2025 sales outlook, a key driver of this year’s share‑price recovery. TechStock²+1

3. Strategic Pivot: Orthopaedics Spin‑Off and Big‑Ticket Deals

Orthopaedics spin‑off: DePuy Synthes

On the same day as its Q3 release, Johnson & Johnson announced plans to separate its Orthopaedics business into a standalone company operating under the DePuy Synthes name. ^[13]

From company and media reports:

The orthopaedics unit generated about $9.2 billion in 2024 sales, roughly 9–10% of J&J’s total revenue. ^[14]
The standalone business would address a $50+ billion global market and serve around 7 million patients annually, making it the largest pure‑play orthopaedics company. ^[15]
The separation is expected to complete in 18–24 months, subject to regulatory and board approvals. ^[16]

CEO Joaquin Duato has framed the move as the next step after spinning out consumer‑health arm Kenvue in 2023: J&J will be even more focused on oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, surgery and vision – businesses with higher projected growth and margins. ^[17]

For investors, the spin‑off matters because:

Orthopaedics is profitable but slower‑growing, so separating it could lift the growth profile (and possibly the valuation multiple) of “remaining JNJ.” ^[18]
Execution risk is real: capital structure, debt allocation and how the new company trades will all influence shareholder outcomes. ^[19]

Deal spree: Intra‑Cellular Therapies and Halda Therapeutics

2025 has also been a busy year for J&J’s M&A strategy:

Intra‑Cellular Therapies (CNS / psychiatry)

In January 2025, J&J agreed to acquire Intra‑Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion in cash ($132 per share), its biggest deal in more than two years. ^[20]
The deal closed on April 2, 2025; J&J expects it to add about 0.8 percentage points to 2025 sales growth (roughly $0.7 billion in incremental revenue) while diluting 2025 adjusted EPS by about $0.25, less than originally feared. ^[21]
The crown jewel is Caplyta (lumateperone), a once‑daily pill for schizophrenia and bipolar depression. On November 6, 2025, the FDA expanded its label to allow use as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), supported by late‑stage trials showing significant symptom improvement without metabolic or sexual side‑effect penalties. ^[22]
Analysts expect Caplyta sales to surpass $1 billion in 2025 and exceed $2.5 billion by 2028, with patent protections now extended into the 2040s. ^[23]

Halda Therapeutics (oncology)

On November 17, 2025, J&J announced it will acquire Halda Therapeutics, a private oncology biotech, for about $3.05 billion in cash. ^[24]
Halda’s lead candidate HLD‑0915 targets metastatic castration‑resistant prostate cancer. The company’s RiPTAC™ platform links tumour‑specific and essential proteins to trigger selective cancer‑cell death, with programs in breast, lung and other solid tumours. ^[25]

Together with the 2024 acquisition of Shockwave Medical in cardiovascular devices, these transactions underline J&J’s strategy: reinforce high‑growth specialty niches where it can sustain premium pricing and strong moats as legacy drugs such as STELARA face biosimilar competition. ^[26]

4. Fresh Catalyst: New Data and FDA Approval for Inlexzo in Bladder Cancer

One of the most important pieces of news this week for J&J’s pipeline is centered on INLEXZO™ (gemcitabine intravesical system), formerly known as TAR‑200:

On September 9, 2025, the U.S. FDA approved Inlexzo for adults with high‑risk, BCG-unresponsive non‑muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ, with or without papillary tumours, who are ineligible for or decline bladder‑removal surgery. ^[27]
Approval was based on a mid‑stage trial in which over 82% of patients had no detectable cancer three months after treatment, and more than half maintained remission for at least one year. ^[28]

On December 5, 2025, J&J released new data from Cohort 4 of the SunRISe‑1 study, presented at the Society of Urologic Oncology meeting:

One‑year disease‑free survival (DFS): about 74%
Progression‑free at one year: roughly 96%
Overall survival at one year: about 98%
>90% of patients avoided radical cystectomy during the study period. ^[29]

These results reinforce Inlexzo as a bladder‑sparing option for patients who previously had few choices beyond surgery. For JNJ stock, it adds to the narrative that growth is being driven not just by financial engineering, but by genuinely differentiated products in areas of high unmet need. ^[30]

5. Dividend and Balance Sheet: Classic “Sleep‑Well” Income Profile

Johnson & Johnson remains one of the market’s most established income names:

In April 2025, the board raised the quarterly dividend from $1.24 to $1.30 per share, marking 63 consecutive years of annual dividend increases – solid “Dividend King” status. ^[31]
On October 14, 2025, J&J declared a Q4 2025 dividend of $1.30, payable December 9, 2025 to shareholders of record on November 25 (ex‑dividend date November 25). ^[32]

At the current share price, that equates to:

Annualised dividend: $5.20 per share
Dividend yield: roughly 2.5–2.6%
Payout ratio: around 50% of earnings, leaving room for reinvestment and continued dividend growth. ^[33]

Data services such as GuruFocus score JNJ highly on profitability and balance‑sheet quality, with a GF Score around 90+ out of 100, indicating strong long‑term outperformance potential in their framework. ^[34]

For income‑oriented investors, JNJ still looks like a dependable anchor: a moderate yield, consistent growth and low volatility compared with the broader market.

6. Legal and Regulatory Overhang: Talc Verdicts and New UK Cases

Despite the strong fundamentals, talc litigation remains the single biggest swing factor in any valuation of Johnson & Johnson.

Major U.S. verdicts in 2025

Two 2025 jury awards stand out:

On July 29, 2025, a Massachusetts jury ordered J&J to pay more than $42 million to a man who developed mesothelioma after decades of using the company’s talc products. J&J plans to appeal and continues to argue that its powders are safe and asbestos‑free. ^[35]
On October 7, 2025, a Los Angeles jury ordered the company to pay $966 million to the family of Mae Moore, an 88‑year‑old woman who died of mesothelioma. The award included $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages. J&J denounced the verdict as “egregious” and based on “junk science,” and will appeal; punitive damages in particular may be reduced on appeal under U.S. Supreme Court guidelines. ^[36]

Reuters estimates that J&J faces more than 67,000 U.S. talc‑related lawsuits, mostly alleging ovarian cancer, with additional mesothelioma cases like Moore’s and the Massachusetts verdict. ^[37]

Separate tracking of the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) shows about 67,670 plaintiffs in the main U.S. talc MDL as of early December 2025, with many more cases pending in state courts. ^[38]

First UK lawsuits

On October 15, 2025, Reuters reported that more than 3,000 claimants in the UK have filed a group action against J&J and Kenvue UK, alleging that talc‑based baby powder caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. The law firm leading the case estimates potential UK exposure at about £1 billion. ^[39]

While UK awards are generally much smaller than U.S. jury verdicts, the filing shows that talc risk is now global, not just American.

Regulatory backdrop: FDA pulls talc asbestos testing rule

Adding complexity, on November 28, 2025, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration withdrew a proposed rule that would have required standardised asbestos testing in talc‑containing cosmetics. ^[40]

Consumer advocates quoted in coverage of the decision warn that the withdrawal could leave gaps in oversight, even as the agency says it plans to craft a broader rule to reduce asbestos exposure across the food and drug supply. ^[41]

Investor implication:

The range of possible outcomes – from something close to J&J’s previously proposed ~$8–9 billion bankruptcy settlement to a much higher total if verdicts and settlements accumulate – is wide. ^[42]
Until there is clear progress toward a global settlement, many investors will continue to apply a litigation discount to any intrinsic value estimate.

7. Analyst Forecasts and 2026 Outlook

Despite the legal noise, Wall Street’s view of JNJ has turned more positive in 2025.

Ratings and 12‑month price targets

Different data providers give slightly different numbers, but they cluster in the same band:

MarketBeat:
- Consensus rating: “Moderate Buy” (26 analysts; 0 Sell, 9 Hold, 13 Buy, 4 Strong Buy)
- Average 12‑month price target:$203.15, implying about 0.6% upside from the current price
- Target range: $153 (low) to $230 (high) ^[43]
StockAnalysis:
- Consensus rating: “Buy”
- Average target about $199.4, with a $153–$227 range ^[44]
MarketScreener:
- 25‑analyst consensus: “Outperform”
- Average target around $203–204, with $155–$230 range ^[45]

Recent key moves:

Guggenheim raised its JNJ price target from $206 to $227 on December 5 while maintaining a Buy rating, implying roughly 10–12% upside from current levels. ^[46]
Barclays recently lifted its target from $176 to $197 but kept an Equal Weight stance, suggesting limited upside after the 2025 rally. ^[47]

In short, most analysts see JNJ as a high‑quality, core holding, but the average 12‑month upside is modest with the stock already near consensus fair value.

Revenue and EPS expectations

Aggregated forecasts imply steady, not spectacular, growth: ^[48]

2025 revenue: around $94–95 billion, up roughly 6–7% from 2024
2026 revenue: often modeled near $99–100 billion (about 5% growth)
2025 EPS: around $10.8–11.0, in line with J&J’s own guidance
2026 EPS: around $11.6, implying 6% earnings growth

Put simply, consensus sees JNJ delivering mid‑single‑digit top‑line growth, mid‑single‑digit EPS growth, and a 2.5–3% dividend yield – a classic recipe for high‑single‑digit total returns if the valuation multiple stays roughly where it is.

8. Valuation: Fairly Priced, or Still Undervalued?

Valuation opinions on JNJ are surprisingly split, depending on the framework:

Earnings / multiples view:
- At roughly 19× trailing earnings, JNJ trades close to the pharma industry average and below some faster‑growing peers. ^[49]
- On this basis, many analysts see the stock as fairly valued after its 2025 rally. ^[50]
GuruFocus GF Value:
- GuruFocus estimates JNJ’s intrinsic “GF Value” around $180–181 per share, suggesting the stock is modestly overvalued at current levels, though the platform still gives JNJ a GF Score of 91/100 for quality and long‑term potential. ^[51]
Discounted cash‑flow (DCF) view – Simply Wall St and others:
- A DCF model published by Simply Wall St recently pegged JNJ’s fair value near $384 per share, implying the stock might be trading at roughly a 45–50% discount to intrinsic value if long‑term cash‑flow assumptions prove accurate. ^[52]

Those wildly different fair‑value estimates highlight the core debate:

If you assume multi‑decade cash flows from oncology, neuroscience and medtech, and a benign outcome on talc, JNJ can look meaningfully undervalued.
If you focus on near‑term earnings multiples, modest growth and open‑ended litigation, it can look fully valued or even slightly rich.

9. Bull vs. Bear Case for JNJ on December 6, 2025

Bullish arguments

Supporters of JNJ stock point to:

Consistent execution in 2025
– Three consecutive earnings beats and repeated guidance raises for 2025, with strength across both Innovative Medicine and MedTech. ^[53]
Sharpened strategic focus
– The Kenvue separation, pending DePuy Synthes spin‑off, and targeted deals in CNS and oncology all move J&J toward faster‑growth, higher‑margin franchises. ^[54]
Deep, diversified pipeline
– New approvals and data for Inlexzo in bladder cancer and Caplyta in depression, plus ongoing work in multiple myeloma, lung cancer, inflammatory diseases and surgical innovation. ^[55]
Dividend and balance‑sheet strength
– 63 straight years of dividend growth, a payout ratio around 50%, and metrics that third‑party models rate as top‑tier for profitability and financial robustness. ^[56]
Quality premium with lower volatility
– A beta well below 1 and strong institutional ownership (~70%) make JNJ a core defensive holding for many funds. TechStock²+2MarketBeat+2

Bearish and cautious views

More cautious investors highlight:

Open‑ended talc risk
– Tens of thousands of U.S. cases, first UK lawsuits, and blockbuster verdicts like the $966 million Los Angeles award create a wide confidence interval for ultimate cash outflows and reputational damage. ^[57]
Limited near‑term upside at current price
– With most 12‑month price targets clustered around $200–205, the consensus view is that much of the good news is already in the price unless growth accelerates further or litigation risk fades. ^[58]
Patent cliffs and integration risk
– J&J must offset STELARA losses and smoothly integrate large acquisitions like Intra‑Cellular and Halda; any stumble could pressure margins and sentiment. ^[59]
Regulatory and pricing pressure
– Global scrutiny of drug pricing, plus evolving regulatory frameworks (such as the FDA’s rethink on talc testing), could weigh on long‑term profitability in some franchises. ^[60]

10. What Johnson & Johnson Stock Looks Like Right Now

Putting everything together as of December 6, 2025:

Business & earnings:
A highly diversified healthcare leader delivering mid‑single‑digit revenue growth and mid‑single‑digit EPS growth, with upside from CNS and oncology deals and new bladder‑cancer data. ^[61]
Strategic direction:
A leaner, more focused J&J emerging over 2026–2027 as the orthopaedics spin‑off completes and capital is redeployed into higher‑growth therapeutics and medtech platforms. ^[62]
Shareholder returns:
A 2.5–2.6% dividend yield plus 5–6% expected EPS growth, suggesting potential for high‑single‑digit annual total returns if the multiple holds. ^[63]
Valuation:
On simple earnings metrics, the stock looks roughly fairly valued after a ~40% year‑to‑date rally; on some long‑term DCF models, it still appears deeply undervalued if legal risks are ultimately manageable. ^[64]
Key risk:
The scale, timing and structure of any eventual talc resolution – plus the risk of further large verdicts – remain the biggest uncertainties. ^[65]

For long‑term, diversified portfolios, many professionals still view Johnson & Johnson as a core defensive holding rather than a speculative trade. For shorter‑term or more litigation‑averse investors, the stock’s strong 2025 run and still‑unresolved talc overhang may argue for patience until there is clearer visibility on a global settlement or a pullback in the share price.

Important: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Always consider your own objectives, risk tolerance and financial situation, and consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.