On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ  ) reported fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $2.29 per share, up 11.7% year-over-year, beating the consensus of $2.28.

Sales increased 7.3% Y/Y to $21.4 billion, beating the consensus of $20.99 billion, with operational growth of 7.2% and adjusted operational growth of 5.7%. Operational growth, excluding the COVID-19 Vaccine, was 10.9%.

Pharmaceutical segment sales increased by 4.2% to $13.72 billion. Darzalex (cancer drug) and Stelara (Crohn's disease) remained the largest-selling drugs for Johnson & Johnson and accounted for $2.6 billion and $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter, respectively.

MedTech sales increased 13.3% Y/Y to $7.67 billion. MedTech worldwide operational sales grew 12.4%, with the acquisition of Abiomed contributing 4.7%.

MedTech worldwide adjusted operational sales grew 7.8%. The company said exceptional adjusted operational growth due to procedures and strong commercial execution.

During an Investor Day in December, Johnson & Johnson's CEO Joaquin Duato highlighted that the company has no immediate plans to venture into weight-loss drugs due to the saturation of existing competition.

Guidance: Johnson & Johnson reaffirms its fiscal year 2024 guidance of operational sales growth of 5.0%-6.0%, with sales of $88.2 billion-$89 billion.

The company sees fiscal year 2024 adjusted operational EPS Of $10.55-$10.75 versus consensus Of $10.71.

For 2024, Johnson & Johnson expects slightly stronger sales in the first half of 2024 compared to the second.

It expects continued uptake from recently launched products and anticipates Stelara biosimilars entry in Europe in the middle of the year.

For MedTech, the U.S. giant expects the operational growth to be relatively consistent throughout the year, with a modest impact from Russia sanctions in the first half of the year.

Price Action: JNJ shares are down 2.01% at $159.20 on the last check Tuesday.