Has Johnson & Johnson Stock Become A Different Bet?

Investors are paying a premium for Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stock. It trades at 29.2 times earnings, compared to 22.9 for the S&P 500. Shareholders paying that premium need to understand exactly what they are buying, and the priorities at the company have changed. A year ago, during the fiscal Q3 2025 call, executives emphasized how the business would maintain growth despite the loss of exclusivity for STELARA, which is the point when rivals can sell copies of a drug. The corporate focus has shifted away from that defense. So what does management talk up instead?

Johnson & Johnson Now Talks Up Cancer Drugs

During the fiscal Q3 2026 call, executives outlined their ambition to become the number 1 oncology company and the leader in cancer medicines by 2030. The message a year earlier was about defense. At that time, management made the case that Johnson & Johnson could keep growing while STELARA lost its protection from biosimilars.

That matters because when one large drug shrinks, the rest of the business grows faster than the overall total shows. During the fiscal Q2 2026 call in July, the company reported sales up 5.6% despite a drag of about 460 basis points from STELARA. Executives noted that sales grew double digits when excluding STELARA. Three months later, the cancer business replaced STELARA as the main focus of executive commentary.

How Fast Are The Cancer Business And STELARA Moving?

Johnson & Johnson is seeing rapid growth in its cancer business. The oncology business grew by about 17% in fiscal Q3 2026, while STELARA sales continued to decline. Management attributed the fall in STELARA to a combination of competition from biosimilars, which are cheaper copies of the drug, and a shift toward newer classes of treatment.

The cancer target is substantial relative to the whole company. Executives project cancer sales to exceed $50 billion by 2030. For context, that figure is more than half of the $94.2 billion Johnson & Johnson sold across its entire business in fiscal 2025.

The company also kept growing while STELARA shrank. Revenue over the twelve months that ended in June 2026 reached $97.9 billion, an 8.1% increase from a year earlier. Over the twelve months before that, revenue grew 4.7%.

Is Johnson & Johnson’s New Emphasis Good For Holders?

The shift in focus looks mostly reassuring for shareholders. Johnson & Johnson maintained its overall growth while STELARA declined. Furthermore, management used the latest call to raise the midpoint of its fiscal 2026 forecast for operational sales growth, which is its own measure. The company narrowed that target range to 6.7% to 7.1%.

The new emphasis itself remains less settled. The 2030 cancer target is a forecast rather than a result, and one quarter of fast cancer growth is not yet a trend. Shareholders paying today’s premium appear, in effect, to be paying for that cancer growth.

Growth in the oncology business is the figure to watch when Johnson & Johnson next reports. The company is expected to release those results on or around January 26, 2027.

Does This Mean You Should Act On JNJ?

Our purpose is to inform you with unique data so you make the right investment decisions. That said, betting on a single stock is always risky, no matter which direction you choose.

There is a smarter approach. Since its inception, the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has returned 105%, beating the benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. And it did so without taking the concentrated risk that comes with do-it-yourself stock picking. If that is how you want to invest, the HQ Portfolio is the place to start.