J&J, whose shares were up 1 percent in afternoon trading, bolstered results by cutting spending more than 10 percent on research, and on sales, general and administrative expenses."They've managed things well, reducing expenses the way they had telegraphed they would, and it's going straight to the bottom line," said Steve Brozak, an analyst with WBB Securities.
"This is a game of expectations, and even though sales were weak across all three of J&J's business units, people were expecting far worse numbers," Brozak said.The diversified health-care company said it earned $3.51 billion, or $1.26 per share, in the first quarter. That compared with $3.6 billion, or $1.26 per share, in the year-earlier period.
Analysts, on average, expected $1.22 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.J&J reaffirmed its 2009 earnings forecast of $4.45 to $4.55 per share, roughly flat with last year's profit.
Investors focused on J&J's results because it is a component of the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) and the first major
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