Big Morning For Q4 Earnings: JNJ, PG, TRV, KMB And More

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Sandwiched in between (NASDAQ:NFLX) strong quarterly earnings report after the bell yesterday and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) and United Air Lines (NYSE:UAL) following today’ close, we see a fresh group of Q4 earnings hitting the tape. This week marks the first of several where hundreds of publicly traded companies bring out their results from last quarter.

Healthcare drug, device and packaged goods giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) put up a mixed Q4 report, with earnings beating estimates but revenues falling a tad short. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company reported $1.74 per share, surpassing the Zacks consensus by 2 cents, whereas revenues in the quarter of $20.20 billion fell slightly beneath the $20.22 billion we had been looking for.

However, its Pharma unit grew 17.6% year over year to $9.7 billion, with full-year 2018 earnings guidance between $8.00-8.20 well ahead of the $7.86 expected. That said, revenue guidance for the full year is currently $80.6 billion-81.4 billion, below the $81.55 billion in the Zacks consensus. For more on JNJ’s earnings, click here.

J&J’s competitor Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) reported positive results in its fiscal Q2 report ahead of today’s opening bell. Earnings of $1.19 per share beat our consensus estimate of $1.15, on revenues of $17.4 billion outpacing the $17.34 billion anticipated. The Zacks Rank #3 company reported organic growth of 2% on both revenues and volume. For more on PG’s earnings, click here.

Domestic telecom leader Verizon (NYSE:VZ) also posted a mixed outcome for its Q4 period, but in reverse: the company missed bottom-line expectations of 88 cents per share by 2 cents, while quarterly sales of $33,955 million surpassed the Zacks consensus of $33,146 million. Verizon, also a Zacks Rank #3 stock, reported post-paid churn coming down while total retail connections rose 1.8% year over year. For more on VZ’s earnings, click here.

Paper and sanitary products manufacturer Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) also beat bottom-line expectations, reporting $1.57 per share on $4.58 billion. We had been looking for $1.54 per share and $4.60 billion, which the Zacks Rank #3 company fell just short of. Full-year guidance between $6.90-7.20 is well ahead of the $6.56 in the Zacks consensus. For more on KMB’s earnings, click here.

Finally, Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated insurer Travelers (NYSE:TRV) far outpaced expectations of $1.64 per share when it reported $2.28 per share this morning. This is roughly down 29% year over year, however. Revenues of $7.5 billion topped the $7.1 billion expected. While these headline numbers were solid, underwriting profit for the company fell 55%. For more on TRV’s earnings, click here.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

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