Leerink upgrades J&J as new drugs gather steam

Brokerage Leerink Partners upgrades healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N to "outperform" from "market perform" and raises PT to $265 from $252

New PT implies an 18% upside to the stock's last close

Leerink says J&J's newer products can drive faster revenue growth over the next several years, especially in pharmaceuticals

"Our thesis is that strong new drug momentum will drive accelerating revenue growth and stock outperformance" - Leerink Partners

Leerink points out the company's key drivers, including recently approved oral psoriasis drug Icotyde, bladder cancer drug Inlexo, lung cancer drug Rybrevant and Crohn's disease drug Tremfya

Leerink raises its sales forecasts for Icotyde and now expects 2026 sales of $405 million and 2032 sales of $10.5 billion

Leerink notes that investors will be watching several J&J drug updates this year, including longer-term psoriasis data for Icotyde and bladder cancer data for Inlexo in the second half of 2026

The brokerage also points to multiple myeloma data for Talvey combinations with Darzalex and/or Pomalyst, also expected in the second half

As of last close, JNJ stock was up ~8.4% YTD